aloof
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From a- + Middle English loof (="weather gage," also "windward direction"), probably from Dutch loef (="the weather side of a ship"); originally a nautical order to keep the ship's head to the wind, thus to stay clear of a lee-shore or some other quarter, hence the figurative sense of "at a distance, apart" [1]
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Adverb
aloof (comparative more aloof, superlative most aloof)
- At or from a distance, but within view, or at a small distance; apart; away.
- 1697, John Dryden, “Part 13”, in Virgil's Aeneid, edition Harvard Classics, translation of original by Virgil, published 2004, page 113:
- The noise approaches, tho' our palace stood / Aloof from streets, encompass'd with a wood
- 1697, John Dryden, “Part 13”, in Virgil's Aeneid, edition Harvard Classics, translation of original by Virgil, published 2004, page 113:
- Without sympathy; unfavorably.
- 1832, Isaac Taylor, Saturday evening, page 363:
- But to open the Bible in this spirit — to take the Book as from the hand of God, and then to look at it aloof, and with caution, as if throughout it were illusory and enigmatical, is the worst of all impieties.
- 1832, Isaac Taylor, Saturday evening, page 363:
[edit] Translations
at or from a distance
without sympathy
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[edit] Adjective
aloof (comparative more aloof, superlative most aloof)
[edit] Translations
reserved and remote; either physically or emotionally distant
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[edit] See also
- See also Wikisaurus:arrogant
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
