- cool
-
Antonyms: warm2 Cool, composed, collected, unruffled, imperturbable, unflappable, nonchalant are comparable when applied to persons, their manners, appearance, temper, or acts, in the sense of showing or seeming to show freedom from agitation or excitement.Cool (see also COLD) basically implies such self-control that no hint is given of any emotion or motive that might warm, inflame, excite, or impassion. Specifically, it may further imply detachment or dispassionateness{
modest youth, with cool reflection crowned— Pope
}{my work, I am often told, is cool and serene, entirely reasonable and free of passion— Ellis
}or calm courage in assault or under attack{soldiers cool under fire
}or deliberateness or determination in gaining one's ends{the coquette [Queen Elizabeth I] of the presence chamber became the coolest and hardest of politicians at the council board—J. R. Green
}or calm assurance or effrontery{the sudden change in her voice, from cool imperial arrogance to terrified pleading— Graves
}or actual or seeming indifference{a cool lover
}Composed implies the freedom from signs of agitation or excitement that is characteristic of a decorous sedate temperament or is the result of self-discipline{in her composed, schooled manner she despised and disliked both father and daughter exceedingly— Conrad
}{she was composed without bravado, contrite without sancti-moniousness— Repplier
}{she was pale, and looked as if she hadn't slept, but composed, as she always is— Rose Macaulay
}Collected stresses a concentration of the mind or spirit with resulting elimination of all distractions; otherwise it differs little from composed{be collected: no more amazement— Shak.
}{Mrs. Hawthorne wore her collected Sunday expression, and Tony knew that she did not allow them to talk of mundane affairs on these expeditions to and from church— Archibald Marshall
}{the Queen . . . remained, as she herself said, "very much collected; civil and high, and betrayed no agitation"— Sitwell
}Unruffled implies coolness, placidity, and often, poise, in the midst of excitement or when there is cause for agitation{while others fretted and fumed, he remained unruffled
}{her mind was unruffled by the spiritual problems which were vexing the minds around her— J. R. Green
}{an efficient organizer, smooth and unruffled— Flora Lewis
}Imperturbable implies such coolness and assurance that one cannot be abashed, annoyed, disconcerted, alarmed, or otherwise disturbed; it usually implies a temperamental rather than an acquired frame of mind{Franklin's imperturbable common sense— Arnold
}{a very good-looking, rosy little man with ... a soft voice and a manner of imperturbable urbanity— H. G. Wells
}Unflappable is a somewhat informal synonym of imperturbable, and like the latter stresses ability to resist what tends to disturb{from his encounters with lions and hippos . . . Mr. Hillaby emerges unflappable and subtly triumphant— Times Lit. Sup.
}{un unflappable debater, he never let a Soviet accusation go unanswered— Newsweek
}{an unflappable management of affairs that might otherwise become bothersome— Wicker
}Nonchalant stresses an easy coolness of manner or casualness that suggests indifference or unconcern; it often connotes lightheadedness or offhandedness{God . . . knows, if he is not as indifferent to mortals as the nonchalant deities of Lucretius— Byron
}{at the back [of the ambulance], haughty in white uniform, nonchalant on a narrow seat, was The Doctor— Sinclair Lewis
}{he walked in a nonchalant fashion— D. H. Lawrence
}Analogous words: *calm, tranquil, serene, placid: detached, aloof, *indifferent: *impassive, stoic, phlegmaticAntonyms: ardent: agitatedContrasted words: fervid, fervent, passionate, perfervid, *impassioned: perturbed, discomposed, disturbed, upset, flustered, flurried (see DISCOMPOSE)
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
