unbothered
Americanadjective
-
not experiencing mental or physical discomfort: He was unbothered about not being picked for the team.
He was unbothered by the cold.
He was unbothered about not being picked for the team.
-
Slang. indifferent to criticism or negative comments; not annoyed or provoked: They swear they’re unbothered, but they care.
She was unbothered by her many haters.
They swear they’re unbothered, but they care.
Usage
What does unbothered mean? Unbothered means not experiencing any discomfort—physically, emotionally, or in another other way. If you’re unbothered, nothing is bothering you. To be bothered by something is to be worried about it or to feel discomfort from it in some way. Unbothered is especially used in the context of things that could hurt or bother a person but don’t, as in I’m unbothered by the pain, honestly—it’s the waiting that gets to me. Unbothered is also commonly used in a more informal way to mean completely unaffected by or indifferent to a bad or difficult situation or poor treatment, such as criticism or negative comments. In this way, it means something like nonchalant, as in You seem so unbothered—how can you be so chill about it?Unbothered can be followed by the source of the discomfort, as in He seems unbothered by the attention, or it can be used by itself, as in He seems completely unbothered. Example: Although Sarah desperately wanted the promotion, she did her best to seem unbothered when it was awarded to Jack.
Etymology
Origin of unbothered
First recorded in 1900–10; un- 1 ( def. ) + bother ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. )
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.
Many attendees were unbothered by the recent illnesses.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
And, for someone with 40 million Instagram followers, she seems resolutely unbothered by other people's opinions of how she should behave.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
De Gaulle was unbothered by his distance from Paris, for as the author observes, “his conception of France was an abstract one. He had little emotional attachment to places.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026
It also explains why stocks are unbothered by slowing growth.
From Barron's ● Apr. 1, 2026
I stood off to the side as Clancy knelt in front of them, completely unbothered by the wet earth staining his own pressed pants.
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
Definitions 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.
