dispassionate

adjective

dis·​pas·​sion·​ate (ˌ)dis-ˈpa-sh(ə-)nət 

: not influenced by strong feeling

especially : not affected by personal or emotional involvement

a dispassionate critic

a dispassionate approach to an issue

dispassionately adverb

dispassionateness noun

Synonyms

• candid
• disinterested
• equal
• equitable
• evenhanded
• fair
• impartial
• indifferent
• just
• nonpartisan
• objective
• square
• unbiased
• unprejudiced

Choose the Right Synonym for dispassionate

fair, just, equitable, impartial, unbiased, dispassionate, objective mean free from favor toward either or any side.

fair implies a proper balance of conflicting interests.

a fair decision

just implies an exact following of a standard of what is right and proper.

a just settlement of territorial claims

equitable implies a less rigorous standard than just and usually suggests equal treatment of all concerned.

the equitable distribution of the property

impartial stresses an absence of favor or prejudice.

an impartial third party

unbiased implies even more strongly an absence of all prejudice.

your unbiased opinion

dispassionate suggests freedom from the influence of strong feeling and often implies cool or even cold judgment.

a dispassionate summation of the facts

objective stresses a tendency to view events or persons as apart from oneself and one's own interest or feelings.

I can't be objective about my own child

Examples of dispassionate in a Sentence

Journalists aim to be dispassionate observers.

He spoke in a dispassionate tone about the accident.

Recent Examples on the Web

The man, no, the boy that 3,000 people had crammed inside London’s Alexandra Palace to see produce history, plus millions more watching at home and in pubs around the UK and the world, was doing it not just with dispassionate ease, or with flamboyant style, but with disdainful relish. —Tim Spiers, The Athletic, 4 Jan. 2025

Dylan, a movie stuntwoman at work on a shoot in New Zealand, sounds neither surprised nor concerned: The dispassionate tone between them makes clear that mother and daughter are at least alike in their self-containment. —Guy Lodge, Variety, 27 Dec. 2024

No doubt, there is warmth, sentiment, even yearning, in it, but there is also dispassionate observation. —Stephan Pechdimaldji, Newsweek, 13 Dec. 2024

Writers’ obsessions can illuminate their subjects in ways that more dispassionate approaches can’t. —Isaac Butler, The New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1594, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

dispassionate

adjective

dis·​pas·​sion·​ate (ˈ)dis-ˈpash-(ə-)nət 

: not influenced by strong feeling : calm, impartial

a dispassionate judge

dispassionately adverb