to could care less
1
9.1
- idiom
- /kʊd kɛr lɛs/
- Informal
:
me importa un comino
- And I'll never forget this two weeks into my commitment to myself and my group, even though they could care less, except for Rich Ellie, right?
And yeah, sorry, just keep me realize sometimes though, that you think people could care less.
- And yeah, sorry, just keep me realize sometimes though, that you think people could care less.
- But there's layers of plausible deniability all the way up to, you know, ISIS, K who they could care less.
- I wish I could care less because it's like way out of my scope of influence, but I do care.
- It seems that the Democratic Party right now, you know, as evidenced by the current president, just as could care less.
- Unless you absolutely could care less about doing an ECG or using the ECG feature, in which case it's a non issue.
Examples
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Umm, in elementary school they could care less about name brands, and in middle school they're very concerned about it.
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And I think Israelis could care less about a bunch of nut jobs, heterodox Christians who want to usher in the apocalypse and claim to be on Israel's side.
Blog text (9) -
I did the research and after doing the research and study I still could care less what she said after that.
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I wish I could care less because it's like way out of my scope of influence, but I do care.
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And if it means destroying the retirement security of 120 officials, they could care less.
Blog text (9) -
I'm going to say now I could care less what she does, but it may be because of the haircut.
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And then there are comedians who are totally satisfied with being stand ups and could care less about movies and TV.
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I mean, I mean, my students at USC could care less about voting issues or, or healthcare issues being denied to those who've been disenfranchised.
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Most people in Rhode Island could care less about a sighting in Idaho, but if you mention a sighting in their state, most will turn in to watch the show.
Blog text (9) -
She could care less about what others think of her choices.
Synonyms
172
8.8
To not care at all about someone or something
4
9.9
A short informal word people say to show they do not care
1
9.9
To say in rude language that someone does not care at all
1
9.9
To not care at all about something, usually in negative sentences
1
9.9
To feel no interest or worry at all about something
To say you do not care about something in a rude way
Antonyms
How Caring
Surface Forms
Morphology
Although the individual words 'could', 'care' and 'less' have clear literal meanings, the idiomatic use 'could care less' is often sarcastic or dialectal and actually conveys 'I do not care at all', which contradicts the literal composition. A B1 learner who knows the constituents would most likely interpret it literally and be misled, so the overall meaning is unpredictable from the parts.
Etymology
Could care less is often a sarcastic American way to say you do not care at all. One popular idea is that people left out the word 'not' from the older phrase couldn't care less but kept the meaning by tone and situation, so could care less really means 'not to care'.