insouciant

UK/ɪnˈsuːsɪənt/US/inˈsusiənt/

adjectiveC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,453 of 15,258Too rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Insouciant means carefree, and untroubled by what should worry you. An insouciant shrug, insouciant charm, insouciant about the deadline.

It is admiring and disapproving at once, since the untroubled part is stylish and the what should worry you part is not. The French is simply not worrying, and English borrowed it in 1828 because it had no equivalent.

Definitions of insouciant

1adjectiveinsouciantCarefree, and untroubled by what should worry you.C2
“He strolled into the exam an hour late, looking completely insouciant.”

insouciant is a quality.

Where it comes from

French insouciant is in-, not, plus souciant, worrying.

French
insouciant
English, today
insouciant

Built from

in- · French — not
souciant · French — worrying

From French insouciant, from in- (“not”) + souciant (“worrying”), 1828.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

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