Dictionary

blasé en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (General-American) audio
• /ˌblɑˈzeɪ/ (General-American)
• /ˈblɑːzeɪ/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Borrowed from French blasé (“blasé, jaded”), past participle of blaser (“to blunt, dull”), from Middle Dutch blâsen (“to blow, sound, brag”), from Old Dutch *blāsan, from Proto-West Germanic *blāsan (“to blow”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to blow; to bleat, cry”). Cognate with German blasen (“to blow”), English blaze (“to blow”), English blast.

Meanings

1. Unimpressed, indifferent, especially because of overfamiliarity.
   • It is the habit of heartlessly pecking at these that shows a soul that is blasé. Of late, for example, it has been a fashion with a small minority of British writers to assert their culture by a very supercilious demeanour towards an idea which ought, beyond all others, to be sacred in this island—the idea of Liberty. 1860 May, [David Masson], “Three Vices of Current Literature”, in David Masson, editor, Macmillan’s Magazine, volume II, number 7, Cambridge: Macmillan and Co. […], →OCLC, page 11, column 2:
   • Often, it's considered "cool" to be blasé about almost everything by some unfortunate people and very "square" to be enthusiastic, especially about something as basic as a job. Fortunately, successful people are too busy being enthusiastic about their work to pay any attention. 1997, Joan German-Grapes, “The Elements of Job Success”, in The Teller’s Handbook: Everything a Teller Needs to Know to Succeed, 6th edition, New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, →ISBN, part 1 (“Bankability” Basics—The Teller as a Person), page 10:
   • "Are people who are blasé ever in love? Just see how badly you play your part!" said Madame Wilson, laughingly; […] "Let us now speak seriously, my dear Scipion; yes, I believe you to be blasé—but blasé as regards all false pleasures, all deceptive enjoyments.[…]" 1847, Eugène Sue, “Lumineau”, in Martin the Foundling; or, The Memoirs of a Valet de Chambre, New York, N.Y.: William H. Colyer, […], →OCLC, page 21, column 1:
   • "I thought the last act was rather dull," said Maud. "Then you're just as bad. You are blasée, darling: I think most people are blasés. That I can't understand. Nobody who has a plan should be blasé. And as long as one has any interest in life one has a plan. I have several." 1908, Edward Frederic Benson, “Chapter 1”, in The Climber, published 1912:
   • He was with some gorgeous blonde, and the two of them were trying to be very blasé and all, like as if he didn't even know people were looking at him. Modest as hell. 1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, pages 164–165:
   • [A] blasé age like our own that is familiar with pragmatism and radical empiricism, that has survived the wild castigations of a Nietzsche in the domain of morals and is popularly pleased rather than otherwise with a Bergson's pillorying of the intellect on a charge of false pretences to the power of comprehending life, is incapable of such excitement. 1913, G[eorge] R[obert] S[towe] Mead, “[Hans] Vaihinger’s Philosophy of the ‘As If’”, in Quests Old and New, London: G[eorge] Bell & Sons, Ltd., →OCLC, page 249:
   • The blasé personality develops such an acute consciousness of being assailed by form that it develops a defence mechanism of indifference. Nothing surprises or enchants it. It is not moved by tragedy or triumph, but maintains an even keel in the face of all new sensory data and information. The blasé personality is really a form of social retreatism, since it is predicated on disengaging with the variety and diversity of exchange and interaction. 2007, Chris Rojek, “Georg Simmel”, in Tim Edwards, editor, Cultural Theory, London; Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications, →ISBN, page 44:

Forms

Deriveds

blasély · blaséness

Synonyms

pococurante · phlegmatic · supine · apathistical · heartless · uninterested · tepid · halfhearted · nonplussed · unaroused · lackadaisical · dispassionate · blasé · unzealous · shiftless · spiritless · indifferent · lukewarm · languid · torpedinous · impassive · dull · mopey · torpid · jaded · unimpressible · Laodicean · enervated · world-weary · gallionic · ineffervescible · unconcerned · languorous · unlively · unenthusiastic · jaded · nonchalant · lethargic · surfeited · unmoved · listless · nonchalant · uncaring · lotophagous · untouched · otiose · deaf · apathetic · indifferent · unimpressed · adiaphroistic · blithe · cool · meh · insouciant · insensible · casual

Translations (25)

de gleichgültig (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · ru пресы́тившийся (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · it blasé (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · de blasiert (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · hu blazírt (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · tr usanmış (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · sh blaziran (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · fr blasé (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · hu unott (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · hu flegmatikus (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · hu megcsömörlött (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · it disincantato (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · cs blazeovaný (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · es indiferente (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · it indifferente (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · es displicente (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · pl zblazowany (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · pt blasé (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · tr bezgin (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · de gelangweilt (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · hu közönyös (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · ru пресы́щенный (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · hu fásult (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · it scettico (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity) · it disilluso (unimpressed with something because of over-familiarity)