aloof
/əˈluːf/
aloof adverb: at or from a distance, but within view, or at a small distance; apart; away.
Adverb
aloof (comparative more aloof, superlative most aloof)
- At or from a distance, but within view, or at a small distance; apart; away.
- Sisyphus also I saw, with unwelcomest taskage tormented, / Toilsomely hoisting aloof, unassisted, a ponderous round stone.1829, William Taylor, Historic Survey of German Poetry, page 73
- The noise approaches, tho' our palace stood
Aloof from streets, encompass'd with a wood1697, John Dryden, “Part 13”, in Virgil's Aeneid, Harvard Classics edition, translation of original by Virgil, published 2004, page 113
- Without sympathy; unfavorably.
- But to open the Bible in this spirit — to take the Book as from the hand of God, and then to look at it aloof, and with caution, as if throughout it were illusory and enigmatical, is the worst of all impieties.1832, Isaac Taylor, Saturday evening, page 363
Adjective
aloof (comparative more aloof, superlative most aloof)
- Either physically or emotionally remote: distant, standoffish.
- None may ever hear the speech of the poets of that city, to whom the gods have spoken. It stands a city aloof. There hath been no rumour of it—I alone have dreamed of it, and I may not be sure that my dreams are true.1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods, London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 3
- Synonyms:
- offish, remote, standoffish, cool, distant, frosty, hankty, hard-to-get, quiet, strange
Preposition
aloof
aloof meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
aloof in Tamil
- ஒட்டாமல், தனித்து, தள்ளி, தொலைவில், பற்றற்று, பற்றின்றி
aloof in Urdu
- علیحدہ, الگ
aloof in Bengali
- একাকী, দূরে থাকা, উদাসীন, বন্ধুসুলভ নয় এমন
aloof in Malayalam
- അകന്ന്, മാറി, ഒഴിഞ്ഞ്, ദൂരെ, വേറെ
More languagesFewer languages
- aloof in Kannada
- ಬೇರೆಯಾದ, ದೂರವಾದ, ಪ್ರತ್ಯೇಕವಾದ, ಉದಾಸೀನ
- aloof in Punjabi
- ਅਲਹਿਦਾ alahidā
- aloof in Arabic
- بَعِيدًا عَنّ baʕīdan ʕann, بِمَعْزِل عَن bi-maʕzil ʕan
- aloof in Persian
- کنارهگیر kenâre-gir
Examples of aloof in a sentence
- His severe depersonalization causes an aloof demeanor.
- She tried to remain aloof from courtly intrigues.
- She seemed unapproachably cold and aloof.
Synonyms of aloof
7 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of aloof
| Adverb | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more aloof |
| superlative | most aloof |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more aloof |
| superlative | most aloof |
Origin of aloof
From Middle English loof (“weather gage, windward direction”), probably from Middle Dutch (Compare Dutch loef (“the weather side of a ship”)), originally a nautical order to keep the ship's head to the wind, thus to stay clear of a lee-shore or some other quarter, hence the figurative sense of "at a distance, apart".
Words formed from aloof
Words that rhyme with aloof
Questions about aloof
- What does aloof mean?
- Aloof means at or from a distance, but within view, or at a small distance; apart; away.
- What is aloof in Tamil?
- Aloof in Tamil is ஒட்டாமல், தனித்து, தள்ளி. See Aloof meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is aloof?
- Aloof can be an adverb, an adjective or a preposition.
- How do you pronounce aloof?
- Aloof is pronounced /əˈluːf/.
Words near aloof in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: aloof (page history and authors); aloof (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); aloof (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); aloof (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); aloof (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); aloof (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਅਲਹਿਦਾ (Punjabi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “aloof.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/aloof. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.