VocabauraVOCABAURA

detachment

noun

Simple meaning

Indifference to the concerns of others.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

dihtachmuhnt

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

dɪˈtætʃmənt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. uncountable

    Indifference to the concerns of others; disregard; nonchalance; aloofness.

  2. uncountable

    The action of detaching; separation.

  3. The state of being isolated or detached

  4. uncountable

    The state of being detached or disconnected; insulation.

  5. A small unit of troops of special composition

  6. countable

    Any smaller portion of a main body separately employed.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Indifference to the concerns of others; disregard; nonchalance; aloofness.

Used this way, detachment is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • separation , a specialist term, precise but narrower

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “detachment”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Small / separation

small detachment

Indifference

first detachment

Avoiding

emotional detachment

Other combinations

retinal detachmentstrong detachmentcomplete detachmentlarge detachmentdetachment sent

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • detachableadjectiveDerived adjective

    Designed to be unfastened or disconnected without damage.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • detachment of the retinanounCompound term

    Visual impairment resulting from the retina becoming separated from the choroid in the back of the eye.

  • retinal detachmentnounCompound term

    Visual impairment resulting from the retina becoming separated from the choroid in the back of the eye.

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Keep learning “detachment” by choosing the kind of practice you need next.

Want to type words like this one without looking at the keyboard? Each typing round draws from words you've learned, saved or need to review. Follow the free Learn to Type lessons and type your own vocabulary with confidence.

Know the meaning? Practice vocabulary in real situations.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.