aloof

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They held themselves aloof from the Irish of Shantytown, the floating sailor population of the summer, and the common soldiers of the garrison.

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Definitions (9)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. adjective Distant physically or emotionally; reserved and remote: stood apart with aloof dignity.
  2. adverb At a distance but within view; apart.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

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Examples (50)

  • He kept aloof--aloof with the army. —  Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 378, April, 1847
  • Most of these families, who held themselves aloof from the Hebrews of Northern Europe, then only occasionally stealing into England, as from an inferior caste, and whose synagogue was reserved only for Sephardim, are now extinct; while the branch of the great family, which, notwithstanding their own sufferings from prejudice, they had the hardihood to look down upon, have achieved an amount of wealth and consideration which the Sephardim, even with the patronage of Mr. Pelham, never could have contemplated. —  Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 1 (of 3)
  • At the door I came upon a great throng of loungers playing at dice, some throwing and others laying their wagers upon those who threw Standing somewhat aloof was a slender young fellow who wore the slashed silver and blue of the King's own guard:--I knew the colors well from some of our older officers in the Provincial army. —  The Black Wolf's Breed A Story of France in the Old World and the New, happening in the Reign of Louis XIV
  • Yet so long as his victim can stand, or sit, or lie in a strong struggle, the raven keeps aloof--hopping in a circle that narrows and narrows as the sick animal's nostrils keep dilating in convulsions, and its eyes grow dimmer and more dim. —  Recreations of Christopher North, Volume 2
  • Sometimes the visitors caught a glimpse of the tweed-clad young man who seemed so quiet and aloof, and who, even when not drinking, avoided them all. —  Where the Sun Swings North
 

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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. a-2 + luff, windward part of a ship (obsolete).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Early modern English aloofe, aloufe, a loofe, a luf; from a, on, + loof, from Dutch loef, loof, luff; cf. Dutch te loef, to loof, i. e., to windward; loef houden, literally hold loof, keep to the windward: cf. the English phrase to hold aloof. See loof, luff.
 

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/əˈluf/
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