apathetic
adjective
having no feeling for, or interest in things that other people find interesting or exciting （对别人感兴趣或感到激动的事物）无动于衷的
// The people passing by seemed to be apathetic about the demonstration. 路过的人们好像对示威游行无动于衷。
// For those affected, many feel the apathetic handling of the crisis is clearly due to their Indigenous identity.
— Brandi Morin, refinery29.com, "One Year After The MMIW Inquiry’s Report, What’s Changed?," 3 June 2020
MMIW: murdered and missing Indigenous women 被谋杀和失踪的土著妇女
indifferent
Indifferent means showing no interest or concern 漠不关心的
// He was indifferent to my pain. 他对我的痛苦漠不关心。
// indifferent to suffering and poverty 对苦难和贫穷漠不关心
// The central pair in Palm Springs are in their early 30s, relatively indifferent to their accomplishments in life so far, and struggling to figure out their path forward.
— David Sims, The Atlantic, "Palm Springs Is the Comedy of the Summer," 10 July 2020
half-hearted
Half-hearted means not showing much willingness or interest 半心半意的，缺乏真心的
// He made a half-hearted attempt to join in the party. 他半心半意地显示出要参加聚会的样子。
// a half-hearted effort 心不在焉的努力
// halfhearted applause 半心半意的掌声
lukewarm
Lukewarm means not very enthusiastic 不太热情的，温吞水般的
// The proposal to erect a statue of the mayor received a lukewarm response at the council meeting. 参议会上大家对要为市长树立塑像的建议不那么热情。
// gave them only lukewarm support 只给了他们不温不火的支持
// a lukewarm review 冷淡的评论
// lukewarm applause 冷淡的掌声
passive
Passive means letting things happen without taking any action yourself 被动的
// He would be no good as a leader because he is too passive. 他太被动，成不了好领导。
// As my research shows, once a meme, hashtag or video goes viral, passive sharing can turn into active broadcasting of the trending idea.
— Anjana Susarla, The Conversation, "TikTok teens and the Trump campaign: How social media amplifies political activism and threatens election integrity," 30 June 2020
similar word: lethargic
constrasting word: enthusiastic
The Many Shades of Indifferent
Many of the words in our language have more than a single meaning. In most cases we have little trouble distinguishing them; we understand, based on the context in which each is used, that the English of "the English language" is different from the English used in billiards or pool ("spin around the vertical axis deliberately imparted to a ball that is driven or rolled"). In other cases, such as with the word indifferent, it can be a bit confusing. Indifferent may mean "unbiased," "apathetic," "mediocre," "unimportant," and several other things. Some of these senses are distinguished by the words commonly used with them; the "apathetic" sense, for instance, is typically followed by the preposition to. When using indifferent in your own writing take care that the surrounding words offer your reader sufficient context to prevent confusion.
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