dispassionate
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dispassionate
First recorded in 1585–95; dis- 1 + passionate
Explanation
Dispassionate describes someone who is not getting carried away by — or maybe not even having — feelings. It's something you'd want to see in a surgeon, who keeps cool under pressure, but not in a romantic partner. Dispassionate is the opposite of passionate, and while passions are said to run "hot," dispassionate people are often described as "cold." Many people think that a judge should be dispassionate when deciding a case — unaffected by strong emotions or preconceived prejudices.
Vocabulary lists containing dispassionate
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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ACT Reading Test: Words to Capture Tone, List 2
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "D"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Its detached, dispassionate approach vaguely recalls the work of another Kurosawa: Akira, who turned 75 shortly before releasing his late-career stunner “Ran.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
Rather than reacting emotionally, though, those at the top have sought to address what has gone wrong with the help of thorough, dispassionate analysis.
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
Only this wasn’t ER, and Dr. Weiner’s voice, dispassionate as he tried to make it, contained an unmistakable trace of actual human horror.
From Slate ● Mar. 29, 2026
In some areas such as human resources, even AI industry professionals argue that human emotion is important—and AI decision-making might be too dispassionate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 13, 2025
It was a feeling as pure as love, but dispassionate and icily rational.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
