nonchalant

English

WOTD – 10 March 2009

Etymology

Borrowed from French nonchalant, from Old French nonchaloir (“to be unconcerned”), from non- (“not”) + chaloir (“to have concern for”), from Latin non (“not”) + calēre (“to be warm”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɒn.ʃəl.ənt/
• IPA^(key): /ˌnɑn.ʃəˈlɑnt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Adjective

nonchalant (comparative more nonchalant, superlative most nonchalant)

1. Casually calm and relaxed.

   We handled the whole frenetic situation with a nonchalant attitude.

2. Indifferent; unconcerned; behaving as if detached.

   He is far too nonchalant about such a serious matter.

Synonyms

• (casually calm): carefree, cool, mellow, easygoing
• (indifferent): blasé, unconcerned
• See also Thesaurus:calm

Translations

casually calm and relaxed

• Armenian: անհոգ (hy) (anhog)
• Czech: nonšalantní (cs), nenucený
• Dutch: nonchalant (nl)
• Esperanto: facilanima
• Finnish: huoleton (fi)
• French: décontracté (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: nonchalant (de), lässig (de)
• Irish: neamhchúiseach, neamhchorrbhuaiseach
• Russian: невозмути́мый (ru) (nevozmutímyj), беспе́чный (ru) (bespéčnyj), небре́жный (ru) (nebréžnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: gun chùram
• Spanish: casual (es), relajado (es)

indifferent; unconcerned; behaving as if detached

• Armenian: անտարբեր (hy) (antarber)
• Czech: lhostejný (cs)
• Finnish: välinpitämätön (fi), piittaamaton (fi)
• French: (usually negative) désinvolte (fr)
• German: nonchalant (de), gleichgültig (de)
• Irish: fuarbhruite
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Persian: بی‌اعتنا (bi-e'tenâ)
• Russian: равноду́шный (ru) (ravnodúšnyj), безразли́чный (ru) (bezrazlíčnyj), небре́жный (ru) (nebréžnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: gun chùram
• Spanish: indiferente (es)
• Swedish: nonchalant (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} nonchalant (sv)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

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Danish

Etymology

From French nonchalant.

Adjective

nonchalant

1. nonchalant, offhand

Inflection

Inflection of nonchalant
	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Indefinte common singular	nonchalant	—	—2
Indefinite neuter singular	nonchalant	—	—2
Plural	nonchalante	—	—2
Definite attributive1	nonchalante	—	—
1) When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite, the corresponding "indefinite" form is used. 2) The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

Adverb

nonchalant

1. nonchalantly, offhandedly

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Dutch

Etymology

From French nonchalant.

Pronunciation

• nonchalant:

  (file)

Adjective

nonchalant (comparative nonchalanter, superlative nonchalantst)

1. careless, showing no interest or effort

Inflection

Declension of nonchalant
uninflected	nonchalant
inflected	nonchalante
comparative	nonchalanter
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		nonchalant	nonchalanter	het nonchalantst het nonchalantste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	nonchalante	nonchalantere	nonchalantste
	n. sing.	nonchalant	nonchalanter	nonchalantste
	plural	nonchalante	nonchalantere	nonchalantste
definite		nonchalante	nonchalantere	nonchalantste
partitive		nonchalants	nonchalanters	—

Related terms

• nonchalance

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French

Etymology

Present participle of Old French nonchaloir (“to have no importance”), from non + chaloir, equivalent to Latin non (“not”) + calēre (“to be warm”).

Adjective

nonchalant (feminine nonchalante, masculine plural nonchalants, feminine plural nonchalantes)

1. Marked by a lack of vivacity, vigour, liveliness; slow-moving; indolent.
2. Cool, relaxed

Usage notes

• Although French nonchalant is usually appropriate where the English one is used, its meaning is different.

Related terms

• nonchaloir
• chaloir

Further reading

• “nonchalant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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German

Etymology

Borrowed from French nonchalant, from Old French nonchaloir, from Latin non (“not”) + calēre (“to be warm”).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

nonchalant (comparative nonchalanter, superlative am nonchalantesten)

1. nonchalant

Further reading

• “nonchalant” in Duden online