If the hiding of emotions was not intentional, then it could be a flat affect. That is admittedly two words, but it’s the term I’ve been diagnosed with. It can be associated with schizophrenia, depression, brain damage, or autism (I have the latter). On rare occasion, it can be present absent other factors.
Someone who is stoic doesn’t necessarily hide all of their emotions; stoicism is more about persevering without complaint, not particularly seeking pleasure, and taking life as it comes. Someone who holds to the Stoic philosophy strives to lack joy or grief, rather than just not show it.
Someone who is diffident lacks self-confidence, according to the dictionary definition of the word.
Someone who is self-composed chooses whether or not to express their emotion. It could be due to a flat affect or it could be from training. It’s my understanding there is a connotation of the latter, however. In any event, the self-composed individual knows how to portray the emotions that aren’t being shown.
Someone who has a practiced facade is very definitely doing it deliberately, and they’ve spent time making sure they get it right.
I believe impassive and self-composed are similar, but it feels to me like impassive seems stronger — that someone who is self-composed seems more likely to be able to be goaded into an emotional display than someone who is impassive. It’s also not as clear that the impassive person knows how to show the emotion they’re feeling, or that they are feeling.
Someone who is reserved is generally self-composed, in my experience. Some of the people I’ve known who were described as reserved had a blunted affect, which is similar to a flat affect, but not as pronounced. If a person has a blunted affect, and they’re not controlling their emotional display, they will display emotion, but if you’re not looking for it, you might miss it. More likely, you’ll just think they’re a lot less enthusiastic about something than they are.
Someone who is expressionless is similar to someone who is impassive, but there seems to me to be less of a connotation of apathy. But unlike someone with a flat affect it doesn’t feel to me like there’s a definite connotation of having emotion; the situation is just unclear.
Other affect terms are broad affect, which is what normal people have, restricted affect and constricted affect, which is between broad and blunted, and labile affect means their emotional display is really variable.
Technically speaking, it’s possible to have a combination of different affects — for some emotions, the person just doesn’t have a natural reaction at all. For others, they have a natural reaction, but it’s less distinct than normal yet not as muted as a flat affect is — for example, they may tend to not show much joy, unless they’re consciously trying. However, even when not paying attention to their presentation, when they’re happy they will at least smile. A bit. But surprise or anger just don’t get reflected in their outward appearance without an effort. It doesn’t mean it’s not real. But if it is real, there’s going to be at least a second or two of pause between the surprise and the act.
That having been said, in my limited experience, ones startle response is not an emotion. That’s a purely physical self-preservation thing, and whether it’s a strong response or not really doesn’t seem to be affected much by their affect. Not everyone with a flat affect will necessarily have a normal startle response, but everyone I know with that diagnosis at least startles to a normal degree. But then after the startle, there will be a pause, while the person figures out what emotion to show, because whatever emotion it is, their affect isn’t going to portray it right on its own.
It’s not nice to meet someone who doesn’t care about others’ feelings or has no regard for others. To describe these people, you might find it difficult to pick a word out of thin air. This article will show you the best descriptive words to reference these people.
What Do You Call Someone Who Doesn’t Care About Others’ Feelings?
There are plenty of good words to describe someone who doesn’t care about others’ feelings. They include:
- Disregard
- Selfish
- Thoughtless
- Apathetic
- Oblivious
- Uncaring
- Sociopath
- Antisocial
The preferred word to describe someone who doesn’t care about others’ feelings is “disregard.” We use it to show that someone has no care or respect for anything else that other people might feel. Even when presented with others’ feelings, they’ll often ignore them.
Disregard
“Disregard” is something that people demonstrate when they don’t want anything to do with other people’s feelings. It’s more common than you think, and it’s especially prevalent in people who think their own problems far outweigh the problems of others.
The definition of “disregard,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “the fact of showing no care or respect for something.”
We can use “disregard” whenever we want to talk about someone not caring or respecting something else. While it doesn’t have to strictly refer to people, it works really well when we’re talking about people who care very little (if at all) about the feelings of others.
“Disregard” can work in the following ways:
- He has a blatant disregard for anyone else’s feelings, and I can’t stand being around him.
- The disregard he demonstrates shows that he couldn’t care less what any of us think.
Selfish
“Selfish” is a common word we use to describe many antisocial issues in people. When talking about someone who only cares about themselves and not about other people, it’s common to use.
The definition of “selfish,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “caring only about what you want or need without any thought for the needs or wishes of other people.”
Often, selfish people simply don’t care about the feelings of others because they’re too busy worrying about their own feelings. They don’t make for very good friends, which is evident if you know any truly selfish people in your life.
You might see selfish people in the following:
- You’re too selfish to ever be taken seriously. You should think about other people’s feelings for once.
- They’re both selfish and don’t care what anyone else thinks about them.
Thoughtless
If someone is thoughtless, it usually means that they don’t give a second thought to people’s feelings. Instead, they will act based on how they think they should act, which can result in doing things that might upset others.
The definition of “thoughtless,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “not considering how your actions or words may upset someone.”
Sometimes, thoughtless people cause issues for others entirely by accident. They may not realize how harmful their behavior can be, but when they do, it’s too late for them to change anything about what they’ve done.
Thoughtless people might appear in the following ways:
- Stop being so thoughtless and tell me how you really feel. I’m too exhausted to argue!
- You’ve hurt my feelings one too many times, you thoughtless oaf!
Apathetic
Someone who is apathetic shows no emotion or interest when it comes to other people’s feelings. They’ll often choose to avoid taking action to help others, and they’d rather just spend their time not caring about anything at all.
The definition of “apathetic,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “showing no interest or energy and unwilling to take action, especially over something important.”
Apathy is the opposite of empathy, which we use to describe someone who is so in touch with other people’s feelings that they’ll feel the same emotions.
Apathetic people can be seen as follows:
- She’s the most apathetic person I’ve ever met, and she’s never shown an ounce of care toward anyone.
- Your apathy is a tragedy, and it makes all the people closest to you turn away.
Oblivious
While “oblivious” isn’t the best word to describe people who don’t care about others’ feelings, it still works well to talk about them in specific cases. Oblivious people often don’t realize when they’ve done or said something to upset somebody they know.
The definition of “oblivious,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “not conscious of something, especially what is happening around you.”
For oblivious people, it’s hard to understand why their actions might hurt others’ feelings. They will simply do things without a second thought (much like being “thoughtless”).
Oblivious is a great word that we can work into sentences in the following ways:
- You’re so oblivious that you don’t even notice when your own daughter needs a shoulder to cry on!
- Stop being so oblivious and take him! He needs all the help he can get from his mother right now!
Uncaring
“Uncaring” works when we want to talk about someone who doesn’t worry themselves with the troubles of others. They’ll always think about themselves first and rarely do anything to help out those in need.
The definition of “uncaring,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “not worrying about other people’s troubles or doing anything to help them.”
Being “uncaring” is a very undesirable trait, and it’s usually quite easy to spot in certain people.
“Uncaring” works as follows:
- He’s by far the most uncaring person I’ve ever met, without a single care in the world for how other people feel.
- You’re too uncaring for us, and we don’t want anything more to do with you until you can learn what empathy is.
Sociopath
A sociopath, or someone who exhibits sociopathic tendencies, is someone who is unable to behave in a way that’s expected in society. It works to explain someone who doesn’t care for others’ feelings, even though it’s a more broad term than that.
The definition of “sociopath,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “a person who is completely unable or unwilling to behave in a way that is acceptable to society.”
It’s possible to diagnose sociopaths clinically, which we can do for people of all ages if we need an explanation as to why they might struggle with certain things in life.
However, sociopathic behavior comes in many forms. One such form is that of not caring for the feelings of others, which is why we included it here.
Sociopathic behavior can present itself as follows:
- Both of these guys are sociopaths, and we’ve had to remove them from society to keep everyone else safe.
- Stop being a sociopathic freak and start helping us to understand why you don’t care!
Antisocial
Antisocial behavior is a lighter form of sociopathic behavior. We can apply it to any behavior that is deliberately harmful to others or to society. It also works well when we want to talk about someone who doesn’t care about the feelings of others.
The definition of “antisocial,” according to The Cambridge Dictionary, is “often avoiding spending time with other people.”
Antisocial people will usually make it clear that they’re not interested in getting to know other people. They’ll also tell others that their feelings are irrelevant in some way, so that they know they can’t confide in antisocial people.
“Antisocial” can work in the following ways:
- We’re both antisocial when it comes to parties, so don’t bother talking to us about how your day went.
- And the most antisocial person I’ve ever met can be awarded to you, that’s for sure!
Why Do Some People Not Care About Others’ Feelings?
There are many reasons why some people do not care about others’ feelings.
People might not care about others’ feelings if they have too much to think about in their own life. If their problems are more important to them than the feelings of others, then that’s up to them. Some people just don’t like other people, which could be a reason for it.
While not caring about others’ feelings is generally a bad personality trait, it could simply come down to someone experiencing problems in their own lives that outweigh those of the other people.
Of course, there are always exceptions to these rules. Some people just don’t like being around or conversing with others and will do anything to make sure that other people are aware of this.
Is It Bad To Not Care About Others’ Feelings?
Generally, not caring about the feelings of others is a negative personality trait, but it doesn’t always have to be.
It is not inherently bad to not care about others’ feelings. It is not your job to make sure everyone else feels happy all the time, but it is your job to make sure you don’t do anything that’s obviously going to upset someone based on what you know about them.
While you don’t have any obligations to look after the feelings of others, it still helps to be as mindful of them as possible. If you know that your actions could harm someone else’s feelings, it’s best to try and avoid doing them.
You may also like: 10 Words For Someone Who Pretends To Care (Fake Kindness)
Martin holds a Master’s degree in Finance and International Business. He has six years of experience in professional communication with clients, executives, and colleagues. Furthermore, he has teaching experience from Aarhus University. Martin has been featured as an expert in communication and teaching on Forbes and Shopify. Read more about Martin here.
by Kate Woodford
This is the second of two posts on the theme of showing and not showing emotions. The words and phrases in Part 1 focused on adjectives and verbs. Today’s post looks at idioms and phrasal verbs in this area.
Starting with idioms that convey something about showing feelings, if you make no secret of your feelings on a particular subject, you do not try to hide them: He makes no secret of his contempt for the former Prime Minister.
If you pour your heart out, you talk to someone emotionally, for a long time, telling them all about how you feel: She poured her heart out about how difficult life was at home.
To let off steam is to express strong feelings that you have been controlling for a while: I’d had the most frustrating time in the meeting and needed to let off steam.
Someone who wears their heart on their sleeve habitually makes their feelings obvious, making no attempt to hide them: You know what Tom is like – he wears his heart on his sleeve.
And what about idioms for not showing emotions? When someone is determined not to appear upset or disappointed, even though they feel it, we say they put on a brave face, or put a brave face on it: She seemed fairly cheerful but I suspect she was putting on a brave face. / I had to put a brave face on it for the kids.
If you get a grip (on yourself), you try hard to control your emotions and behave calmly, especially when you are very angry or sad: Come on, get a grip! / I was furious, but I had a meeting to attend so I had to get a grip on myself.
Moving on to phrasal verbs in this area, there are a few that convey the idea of trying not to show feelings of sadness or anger, for example hold in: She’d been unhappy for a long time, but holding it in for the kids’ sake.
If someone fights back or holds back tears, they try hard not to cry: He fought back tears as he walked behind his father’s coffin.
Someone who bottles up feelings such as anger and sadness, stops themselves from showing them to other people for a long time: He never dealt with the grief – just bottled it up for years.
Meanwhile, if someone’s face or manner gives them away, it shows how they really feel, even though they are trying to hide it: She pretends she’s not interested in him, but her interest when his name is mentioned gives her away. / His eyes gave nothing away.
When was the last time you ‘let off steam’? Perhaps you’d like to say in the comments below.
Read the article. Then, answer each question that follows.
The Bees
Bees, known for their painful sting and their delicious honey, are a common sight in flower gardens. Blossoms provide bees with their food-pollen and nectar. Bees have specialized adaptations for collecting food, including hairy bodies, pollen baskets, and special tongues for gathering nectar.
Honeybees
Honeybees, the most commonly known type of bee, are organized social insects. Honeybees live in complex colonies in which large numbers of individuals act together nearly as a single organism. The bee colony consists of specialized individuals: the queen bee, worker bees, and drones.
Queen bee. The queen bee is a fully developed female. Her only job is to lay eggs. When summer flowers begin blooming, the queen begins to lay her eggs, numbering a thousand or more per day.
Worker bees. Worker bees are undeveloped females. A colony can have up to 60,000 female bees. They collect nectar and pollen, convert it into honey, raise the young, and build their honeycomb. As they collect pollen, some clings to the hairs on their bodies. Flying from blossom to blossom, the bees pollinate flowers, fruit trees, and vegetable plants.
Drones. The drones are male bees. Their only job is to mate with the queen. When fall arrives, drones are driven out of the hive to die. Some of the eggs the queen lays are unfertilized. These develop into adult drones. This process of producing life from unfertilized eggs is known as parthenogenesis.
If the topic you wanted to learn about was dangerous insects, what would you do after scanning this article?
A. reread the article
B. move on to another source
C. skim the article
D. look for more information on honeybees
List of top 40 famous quotes and sayings about not showing feelings to read and share with friends on your Facebook, Twitter, blogs.
Top 40 Not Showing Feelings Quotes
#1. A thing that had always struck her about the child was that he seemed so collected. She had never seen him cry. And now she realized that his calmness was some instinctive shame of showing his feelings; he hid himself to weep. — Author: W. Somerset Maugham
#2. There is is again, that slight stinging sensation of the cheeks. It’s our body’s light speed response to the world showing us up. And it’s one of life’s most unpleasant feelings, leaving one to wonder what evolutionary purpose it could possible serve. — Author: Amor Towles
#3. You’ll be fine. You’re 25. Feeling [unsure] and lost is part of your path. Don’t avoid it. See what those feelings are showing you and use it. Take a breath. You’ll be okay. Even if you don’t feel okay all the time. — Author: Louis C.K.
#4. An effective breakout block is at least three-hours long and spent on things other than work. It is time scheduled away from your business during normal business hours that you will use to refresh and reinvigorate your mind, so that when you return to work, you can engage with more focus and energy. — Author: Brian P. Moran
#5. Throughout her life, Highsmith looked for women whom she could worship. Sex was far from the most important factor in any relationship; rather, it was this near-divine quality for which she yearned. — Author: Andrew Wilson
#6. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. — Author: Timothy Keller
#7. There is nothing so terrible as a story untold. — Author: Victoria Aveyard
#8. He does not like showing his feelings and would rather do a cruel thing than open his heart freely. — Author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky
#9. Her thoughts are full of other things just now; and people have such different ways of showing feeling: some by silence, some by words. — Author: Elizabeth Gaskell
#10. My advice is that you wait. You can love without making love. It is a beautiful way of showing your feelings but it brings responsibility, great responsibility, and there is no rush. — Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
#11. If I’m not happy with how someone is showing up, I can only be honest and hope that my feelings resonate and inspire a deeper look into oneself. — Author: Stacy Keibler
#12. This Christmas, as the spirit of the season permeates our hearts, let us do something that expresses our feelings in an outward way, showing that we understand that the babe born in Bethlehem is the real Redeemer. — Author: Gary E. Stevenson
#13. I want to feel the rain on my face, to smile at any man I feel attracted to, to accept all the coffees men might buy for me. I want to kiss my mother, tell her I love her, weep in her lap, unashamed of showing my feelings, because they were always there even though I hid them. — Author: Paulo Coelho
#14. I felt absolutely nothing. It was like a door quickly opened, showing me what horrible feelings I had inside, and then slammed shut again so I wouldn’t have to actually face them. — Author: Augusten Burroughs
#15. You can have regret from yesterday, fear tomorrow, but peace today by sharing your heart’s deepest feelings. A life spent being fearful of showing your soul is a life not worth living. — Author: Shannon L. Alder
#16. Respect is more than giving consideration of one’s feelings. It is showing common courtesy for another human being. — Author: Tom Baker
#17. Sex can be renounced
but sexuality cannot. We can’t avoid sexual issues by avoiding sex, or by dismissing its importance, or by showing disrespect to our own or other people’s sexual feelings. — Author: Sallie Tisdale
#18. When someone comes up to me and says, ‘Mary, you helped save my marriage’, or, ‘Mary, you helped me get out of this abusive relationship’, I’m in it, really in their lives. And I’m so passionate about my feelings, but also about showing people the way through theirs. — Author: Mary J. Blige
#19. Roddenberry had created quite a complex and at times mysterious character. Guarded, cautious, careful in showing his feelings in expressing his ideas about many things — I found that very interesting. — Author: Patrick Stewart
#20. Neapolitans are extremely empathetic, whereas the typical northern attitude is more about not showing or sharing your feelings. — Author: Toni Servillo
#21. She was terrified. She was beginning to realise that after long months of selfcontrol,
the pressure, the
earthquake, the volcano of her soul was showing signs that it was about to erupt, and the
moment that this happened, she would have no way of controlling her feelings. — Author: Paulo Coelho
#22. When we accept ourselves as we are, we aren’t «settling» or «keeping the problem in place.» We’re showing love and compassion for ourselves-for our feelings, our situation, and our history. — Author: Nick Ortner
#23. It’s great to know you’ve earned your place and to know that you are right for the role because my biggest fear is being offered something and showing up on set and doing one day and everyone going, «Oh geez, oh no, this isn’t, she isn’t..» and feeling that way myself. — Author: Olivia Wilde
#24. The feeling of being ‘offended’ is a warning indicator that is showing you where to look within yourself for unresolved issues. — Author: Bryant H. McGill
#25. When you ask your white friends what their cultural heritage is, they don’t just say white. They give you a math equation. ‘Well, I’m a third German and a fourth Irish and one-sixteenth Welsh and one-fortieth Native American for college applications.’ — Author: Hari Kondabolu
#26. I would roll out of bed and immediately start working, and keep working until it was so late at night that I couldn’t stay awake anymore. Then I’d go to sleep and wake up the next morning and do the same thing all over again. I did that every day for three years. — Author: Michael Azerrad
#27. Love has a way of showing you to yourself, whether through satisfaction or humiliation. It hovers over you like a magnifying glass you cannot escape, intensifying the slightest feelings of either delight or shame. No other experience makes so obvious the realities of both heaven and hell. — Author: Marianne Williamson
#28. Disappointment and feebleness imprint upon us a cowardly and valetudinarian virtue. — Author: Michel De Montaigne
#29. The goal of truly rich people is to have massive wealth and abundance. — Author: T. Harv Eker
#30. Never apologize for showing your feelings. When you do, you are apologizing for the truth. — Author: Jose N. Harris
#31. We can certainly defuse the intensity of the anti-immigrant feeling if we can bring some reality to the discussion by showing that they are not using that many resources. — Author: Barbara Jordan
#32. If she had learnt any lesson today it was that men were stupid, helpless creatures made needlessly cruel by their terror of showing their feelings. — Author: Jayne Bauling
#33. Feeling unsure and lost is part of your path. Don’t avoid it. See what those feelings are showing you and use it. — Author: Louis C.K.
#34. I love it when someone insults me. That means that I don’t have to be nice anymore. — Author: Billy Idol
#35. Life is not a PG feel-good movie. Real life often ends badly. Literature tries to document this reality, while showing us it is still possible for us to endure nobly. — Author: Matthew Quick
#36. Courage lies in being oneself, in showing complete independence, in loving what one loves, in discovering the deep roots of one’s feelings. — Author: Fernand Pouillon
#37. Carter, it’s not about sex. It’s about showing our love for one another. It’s about expressing our feelings for each other without words. It’s about two people who share a connection so strong, so deep that no one could take it away. — Author: Annie Brewer
#38. Showing young children in these communities, that there are outlets for their feelings, that there is room in a space for their stories to be told, and that they will be applauded — and it’s not about ego, it’s about connection: that their pain is everybody else’s pain. — Author: Tom Hiddleston
#39. Even voting for the right is doing nothing for it. It is only expressing to men feebly your desire that it should prevail. A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority. There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men. — Author: Henry David Thoreau
#40. Writers don’t retire. I will always be a writer. — Author: Andy Rooney
