detachment

American  

[dih-tach-muhnt] / dɪˈtætʃ mənt /

noun

• detachments
  plural

1. the act of detaching.

2. the condition of being detached.

3. aloofness, as from worldly affairs or from the concerns of others.

   Synonyms:

   unconcern, indifference, coolness

4. freedom from prejudice or partiality.

5. the act of sending out a detached force of troops or naval ships.

6. the body of troops or ships so detached.

---

detachment British  

/ dɪˈtætʃmənt /

noun

1. indifference to other people or to one's surroundings; aloofness

2. freedom from self-interest or bias; disinterest

3. the act of disengaging or separating something

4. the condition of being disengaged or separated; disconnection

5. military

   1. the separation of a small unit from its main body, esp of ships or troops

   2. the unit so detached

6. a branch office of a police force

7. logic the rule whereby the consequent of a true conditional statement, given the truth of its antecedent, may be asserted on its own See also modus ponens

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nondetachment
  noun
• predetachment
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• detachments
  plural

Etymology

Origin of detachment

From the French word détachement, dating back to 1660–70. See detach, -ment

Explanation

A state of being distant or standoffish is detachment. Your detachment might mean that you don't cry on the last day of school with all your friends — you're just not that emotionally involved. When you have a sense of detachment from your surroundings, you're a bit aloof or apart, especially in an emotional way. A more physical kind of detachment is an actual coming apart, when something breaks or separates: "The detachment of the wall and the baseboard made it hard to paint the kitchen." Finally, there is a military meaning of detachment — a unit or group of soldiers sent on a separate mission.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

detachment detachments

The effect, the author suggests, was lasting and unexpectedly salutary, with the new emperor’s detachment strengthening Rome’s “emergent bureaucracy,” made up of administrators whose “whose self-interest guaranteed orderly solutions to local problems.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Unified, district officials emphasized detachment from the proposed legislation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

With his air of Olympian detachment, Greenspan will be remembered for his long stewardship of the US economy, during which GDP contracted only once.

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026

A few meters away, 60-year-old Jose Manuel Garcia, who is blind in one eye and undergoing treatment for retinal detachment to save the other, was seeking passage home to the city of Santiago de Cuba.

From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026

Disturbed by the man’s alarum, we looked up from our labor and found a detachment of Redcoats running in formation for the gates.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

Wildlife experts from the German Oceanographic Museum and the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research said the whale was severely injured with visible skin detachments.

From BBC ● Apr. 16, 2026

The military's statement said that box extended "up to the northern tip of Luzon, particularly Mavulis Island", which hosts small Philippine navy and marine detachments.

From Barron's ● Feb. 27, 2026

The small U.S. detachments are not authorized or equipped to fight a war against the guard or anyone else.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2024

It’s home to two key U.S. drone bases and at least 1,000 American military personnel, in addition to military detachments from France, Italy and other European countries.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 31, 2023

The front detachments were now close to our camp, and still more troops kept issuing from the camp of the Indians.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Related Words

• indifference
• neutrality
• objectivity
• remoteness