couldn't care less

Idioms  

1. Also, could care less. Be completely indifferent. For example, Pick whatever dessert you want; I couldn't care less, or I could care less about the editor's opinion. This expression originated about 1940 in Britain and for a time invariably used couldn't. About 1960 could was occasionally substituted, and today both versions are used with approximately equal frequency, despite their being antonyms.

---

Example Sentences

Asked at a press conference Friday whether the justices who ruled against him are still welcome to attend the speech, Trump said: “They’re barely invited. Honestly, I couldn’t care less if they come.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 21, 2026

The others are "invited, barely," he said, before adding "I couldn't care less if they come."

From Barron's • Feb. 20, 2026

The players themselves, however, really couldn’t care less.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 4, 2025

"I'll tell you something that's going to get me in trouble, but I couldn't care less," he said, when asked how the nation can be fixed.

From BBC • Sep. 18, 2025

We all thought the kindergarten would stop whatever it was doing, hunt up a cigar box, write a poem for Bob, and have a funeral, but according to Boomer they couldn’t care less.

From "The Best School Year Ever" by Barbara Robinson

Related Words

• abstract
• candid
• detached
• disinterested
• sober
• unbiased
• unemotional