Aloof Meaning
/əˈluːf/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
advAt or from a distance, but within view, or at a small distance; apart; away.
advWithout sympathy; unfavorably.
Sentence Examples
The old man stands aloof from this world.
He stood aloof from her.
CEFR Practice Quiz
At the party, she remained ____ and did not talk to anyone.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The new student remained somewhat ____ and didn't talk to many people.
Word Origin & History
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".
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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 wood"
— 1697, John Dryden, “Part 13”, in Virgil's Aeneid, Harvard Classics edition, translation of original by Virgil, published 2004, page 113:
"Mother[…]considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom, from which every Kensingtonian held aloof, except on the conventional tip-and-run excursions in pursuit of shopping, tea and theatres."
— 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
"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:
"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:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
At the party, she remained ____ and did not talk to anyone.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The new student remained somewhat ____ and didn't talk to many people.