aloof

English

Etymology

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".[1]

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /əˈluːf/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • Rhymes: -uːf

Adverb

aloof (comparative more aloof, superlative most aloof)

  1. At or from a distance, but within view, or at a small distance; apart; away.
    • 1697, John Dryden, “Part 13”, in Virgil's Aeneid, Harvard Classics edition, translation of original by Virgil, published 2004, page 113:
      The noise approaches, tho' our palace stood
      Aloof from streets, encompass'd with a wood
    • 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
      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.
  2. Without sympathy; unfavorably.
    • 1832, Isaac Taylor, Saturday evening, page 363:
      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.

Translations

Adjective

aloof (comparative more aloof, superlative most aloof)

  1. Reserved and remote; either physically or emotionally distant; standoffish.
    • 1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods‎, London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 3:
      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.

Derived terms

Translations

Preposition

aloof

  1. (obsolete) Away from; clear of.[2]

See also

References
  1. Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “aloof”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. “aloof”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams
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