nonchalant

CEFRC2

/ˈnɒn.ʃəl.ənt/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Calm and unconcerned, even in a difficult situation.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Indifferent; unconcerned; behaving as if detached.

Examples

  • He tried to appear nonchalant about the news.

  • Her nonchalant attitude masked her nervousness.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
3
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meaning

  1. Casually calm and relaxed.

More examples

In context

  • He is far too nonchalant about such a serious matter.

  • We handled the whole frenetic situation with a nonchalant attitude.

  • Undaunted by the occasion, Ruthe went on to become the first 15-year-old to run a sub-four-minute mile, even managing a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders as he crossed the finish line.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Despite the emergency, he remained blank and showed no worry.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

Borrowed from French nonchalant, from Old French nonchaloir (“to be unconcerned”), from non- (“not”) + chaloir (“to have concern for”), from Latin non (“not”) + calēre (“to be warm”).