Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The state of being aloof, or of keeping at a distance; indifference.
Wiktionary
- n. The state of being aloof
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. State of being aloof.
WordNet 3.0
- n. indifference by personal withdrawal
- n. a disposition to be distant and unsympathetic in manner
Examples
“Part of what students currently see as an aloofness is just running to the next obligation ...”
Discourse.net: Patricia D. White to Be Dean of University of Miami School of Law
“True, I noticed a certain aloofness on the part of my general friends, but this I ascribed to the disapproval that was prevalent in my circles of my intended marriage with Ernest.”
“Trethaway, who had felt the aloofness from the start, caught an opportunity with Frona while Captain Alexander and Corliss were being pleasant to Mrs. Trethaway.”
“Again, not to kick up sand, but Bush has a certain aloofness to him.”
“The ability to see for one's self is attainable, not by mixing with crowds and ascertaining how they look at things, but by a certain aloofness and self-containment.”
“There is also a certain aloofness, a peculiar but understandable arrogance.”
“Maryam claims onlooker status to distance herself from the blithering Donaldsons and to dodge the advances of Bitsy’s widowed father, but her aloofness is really ontological, an innate standoffishness familiar to Tyler’s readers.”
“Rabelaisian ditty, a gross amazing jest, a chuckle of deep Satyric humour; -- and the monstrous "thickness" of Life, its friendly aplomb and nonchalance, its grotesque irreverence, its shy shrewd common-sense, its tough fibres, and portentous indifference to "distinction"; tumbles us over in the mud -- for all our "aloofness" -- and roars over us, like a romping bull-calf!”
“In the austere masterpieces of the Greek drama, for example, we may discover a lack of this warmth of sympathy; and we can not but suspect a certain aloofness, which is akin to callousness.”
“Despite the reserved nature of a President once accused of professorial "aloofness," Obama is proving himself as somewhat spontaneous.”
Lists
‘aloofness’ hasn't been added to any lists yet.
yarb Aloofness is not that easily achieved.
Colt's is the only foolproof way yet known.
- Peter Reading, Address Protector, from Nothing for Anyone, 1977 Jun 26, 2008