Adjacent Words

Aloof definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ALOOF, adv. [Probably from the root of leave, to depart.]
1. At a distance, but within view, or at a small distance, in a literal sense; as, to stand aloof.
2. In a figurative sense, not concerned in a design; declining to take any share, implying circumspection; keeping at a distance from the point, or matter in debate.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: remote in manner; "stood apart with aloof dignity"; "a distant smile"; "he was upstage with strangers" [syn: aloof, distant, upstage] adv
1: in an aloof manner; "the local gentry and professional classes had held aloof for the school had accepted their sons readily enough"

Merriam Webster's

I. adverb Etymology: obsolete aloof to windward, from ¹a- + louf, luf luff Date: 1523 at a distance II. adjective Date: 1608 removed or distant either physically or emotionally <he stood aloof from worldly success — John Buchan> Synonyms: see indifferent • aloofly adverb • aloofness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & adv. --adj. distant, unsympathetic. --adv. away, apart (he kept aloof from his colleagues). Derivatives: aloofly adv. aloofness n. Etymology: orig. Naut., f. A(2) + LUFF

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Aloof A*loof", n. (Zo["o]l.) Same as Alewife.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Aloof A*loof", adv. [Pref. a- + loof, fr. D. loef luff, and so meaning, as a nautical word, to the windward. See Loof, Luff.] 1. At or from a distance, but within view, or at a small distance; apart; away. Our palace stood aloof from streets. --Dryden. 2. Without sympathy; unfavorably. To make the Bible as from the hand of God, and then to look at it aloof and with caution, is the worst of all impieties. --I. Taylor.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Aloof A*loof", prep. Away from; clear from. [Obs.] Rivetus . . . would fain work himself aloof these rocks and quicksands. --Milton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. Someone who is aloof is not very friendly and does not like to spend time with other people. He seemed aloof and detached. = distant ADJ: usu v-link ADJ [disapproval] 2. If someone stays aloof from something, they do not become involved with it. (FORMAL) The Government is keeping aloof from the controversy... ADJ: v-link ADJ from n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

ad. Apart, at a distance, away, off.

Moby Thesaurus

Laodicean, Olympian, above, above all that, abovestairs, airward, alienated, aloft, alone, antisocial, apart, apathetic, arrogant, at a distance, away, backward, bashful, benumbed, blah, blank, blase, bored, broken, careless, casual, chilled, chilly, cold, comatose, companionless, constrained, cool, desensitized, detached, disconnected, discontinuous, discreet, discrete, disdainful, disinterested, distant, distantly, dull, exclusive, expressionless, forbidding, formal, friendless, frigid, frosty, gapped, guarded, haughty, heartless, hebetudinous, heedless, high, high up, homeless, hopeless, icy, impassive, impersonal, in a stupor, in the air, in the clouds, inaccessible, incoherent, inconsistent, incurious, indifferent, insouciant, insular, introverted, isolated, kithless, languid, lethargic, listless, lone, lonely, lonesome, mindless, modest, nonadherent, nonadhesive, nonchalant, noncoherent, noncohesive, numb, numbed, off, offish, on high, on stilts, on the peak, on tiptoe, open, over, overhead, passive, phlegmatic, pluckless, private, proud, regardless, remote, remotely, removed, repressed, reserved, resigned, restrained, reticent, retiring, rootless, seclusive, separate, separated, shrinking, single-handed, skyward, slack, sluggish, solitary, solo, soporific, spiritless, spunkless, standoff, standoffish, stoic, stolid, straight up, stupefied, subdued, supercilious, supine, suppressed, tenuous, tiptoe, to the zenith, torpid, unabetted, unaccompanied, unadhesive, unaffable, unaided, unapproachable, unassisted, unattended, unbending, uncaring, uncoherent, uncohesive, uncompanionable, unconcerned, uncongenial, unconnected, undemonstrative, unescorted, unexpansive, unfriendly, ungenial, uninquiring, uninterested, uninvolved, unjoined, unmindful, unresponsive, unseconded, unsociable, unsocial, unsupported, unsympathetic, untenacious, up, upstairs, upward, upwards, withdrawn