phlegmatic

WOTD - 17 July 2007    

English

Alternative forms

• phlegmatick
• phlegmaticke
• phlegmatique

Etymology

From Ancient Greek φλέγμα (phlégma, “phlegma”)

Pronunciation

• IPA: /flɛɡˈmætɪk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ætɪk

Adjective

phlegmatic (comparative more phlegmatic, superlative most phlegmatic)

1. Not easily excited to action or passion; calm; sluggish.
   • 1873, Jules Verne, chapter 2, Around the World in 80 Days^[1]:

     Calm and phlegmatic, with a clear eye, Mr. Fogg seemed a perfect type of that English composure which Angelica Kauffmann has so skilfully represented on canvas.

2. (archaic) Abounding in phlegm; as, phlegmatic humors; a phlegmatic constitution.
3. Generating, causing, or full of phlegm.
4. Watery.

Synonyms

• (calm and reasonable, tending not to get upset): apathetic, sluggish, cold-blooded, unflappable, stoic

Related terms

• phlegm
• phlegmatically

Translations

not easily excited to action

Catalan: flegmàtic (ca) Czech: flegmatický (cs) Finnish: flegmaattinen (fi) French: flegmatique (fr) m. and f. German: phlegmatisch (de) Hebrew: פלגמטי (flegmati)

Italian: flemmatico (it) Polish: flegmatyczny (pl) m. Russian: флегматический (ru) (flegmatíčeskij), флегматичный (ru) (flegmatíčnyj) Spanish: flemático Swedish: flegmatisk (sv), sävlig (sv)

abounding in phlegm

Catalan: flegmàtic (ca) German: phlegmatisch (de)

Swedish: flegmatisk (sv)

generating, causing, or full of phlegm

Catalan: flegmàtic (ca)

watery

Romanian: apos (ro) m. and n., apoasa (ro) f., aposi (ro) m. pl., apoase (ro) f. pl.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Greek: φλεγματικός Japanese: 粘液質の (ねんえきしつの, nen eki shitsu no)