aloof

²aloof

adj \ə-ˈlüf\

Definition of ALOOF

: removed or distant either physically or emotionally <he stood aloof from worldly success — John Buchan>

— aloof·ly adverb

— aloof·ness noun

Examples of ALOOF

1. They tried to keep aloof from the politics of the day.
2. <the new kid was really not so aloof as we thought him at first, just painfully shy>
3. In truth, he isn't so much aloof as he is courtly in a formal, afternoon-tea sort of way. —Joe Klein, Time, 21 July 2003
4. Most American journalists who “do” politics cannot resist getting to know the Players. Walter Lippmann was typical of an earlier generation, the disinterested wise man who remained aloof, chiselling great thoughts on marble columns. —Gore Vidal, Nation, 12 June 1995
5. Jeremy Price (this name and a few others have been changed), a black teacher from St. Paul's, tried a few times to make small talk, but he was a Brahmin from another planet: cool, ironic, aloof. —Lorene Cary, Black Ice, 1991
6. Somehow, I remember the fireworks man as solitary, aloof, coveralled, perhaps sooty, staring straight ahead as he came, perhaps reflecting back on the trench-war violence he had just been a part of … —George Plimpton, Fireworks, 1984

Origin of ALOOF

(see ¹aloof)

First Known Use: 1608

Related to ALOOF

Synonyms: cool, antisocial, asocial, buttoned-up, cold, cold-eyed, detached, distant, dry, frosty, offish, remote, standoff, standoffish, unbending, unclubbable, unsociable

Antonyms: cordial, friendly, sociable, social, warm

Related Words: indrawn, introverted, nongregarious, recessive, reclusive, reserved, unsocial, withdrawn; misanthropic; apathetic, hard, indifferent, unconcerned; clinical, dispassionate, impersonal, professional; disinterested, incurious, uninterested; reticent, silent, taciturn, uncommunicative; diffident, shy, timid; cliquey, cliquish, clubbish

Near Antonyms: boon, clubbable (also clubable), clubby, companionable, convivial, extroverted (also extraverted), gregarious, outgoing; communicative, expansive, garrulous, talkative; affable, folksy, genial, gracious, hospitable; agreeable, amiable, congenial, kindly, neighborly

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See Synonym Discussion at indifferent