standoffish

standoffish

See also: stand-offish

English

Etymology

stand off +‎ -ish

Adjective

standoffish (comparative more standoffish, superlative most standoffish)

1. Aloof; reserved; unsociable and unfriendly.
   • 1902, Joseph Conrad, chapter I, in Heart of Darkness:

     He was stand–offish with the other agents, and they on their side said he was the manager’s spy upon them.

   • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses, episode 16,

     His initial impression was that he was a bit standoffish or not over effusive.

   • 1928, D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover, ch. 7,

     They were always a haughty family, standoffish in a way, as they've a right to be.

Synonyms

• cold
• distant

Related terms

• standoffishness

Translations

unsociable

Finnish: kylmäkiskoinen

Spanish: huraño (es) m, huraña (es) f, antisocial (es) m or f, arisco (es) m, hosco (es) m, hurón (es) m, apartadizo (es) m

See also

• standoff
• stand off

References

• “standoffish” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “standoffish” in Microsoft's Encarta World English Dictionary, North American Edition (2007)
• "standoffish" in Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
• “standoffish” in the Compact Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford University Press, 2007)
• Oxford English Dictionary, second edition (1989)
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987–1996.