ALOOFNESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does aloofness mean? 

• ALOOFNESS (noun)
  The noun ALOOFNESS has 2 senses:

1. indifference by personal withdrawal

2. a disposition to be distant and unsympathetic in manner

  Familiarity information: ALOOFNESS used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ALOOFNESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Indifference by personal withdrawal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

aloofness; distance

Context example:

emotional distance

Hypernyms ("aloofness" is a kind of...):

indifference (unbiased impartial unconcern)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A disposition to be distant and unsympathetic in manner

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

aloofness; remoteness; standoffishness; withdrawnness

Hypernyms ("aloofness" is a kind of...):

unsociability; unsociableness (an unsociable disposition; avoiding friendship or companionship)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "aloofness"):

unapproachability (a disposition to be unapproachable; unfriendly and inaccessible)

Derivation:

aloof (remote in manner)

 Context examples 

Too long had he cultivated reticence, aloofness, and moroseness.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

I have heard a traveller from the wilds of America say that he looked upon the Red Indian and the English gentleman as closely akin, citing the passion for sport, the aloofness and the suppression of the emotions in each.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A form of schizophrenia characterized by delusions (of persecution or grandeur or jealousy); symptoms may include anger and anxiety and aloofness and doubts about gender identity; unlike other types of schizophrenia the patients are usually presentable and (if delusions are not acted on) may function in an apparently normal manner.

(Paraphrenia, NCI Thesaurus)