aloofness
(əˈluːfnɪs)
[f. aloof adv. + -ness.]
The state of being aloof; withdrawal from common action or feeling; lack of sympathy.
| 1642 Rogers Naaman 242 Aloofenesse and carrying of things afarre off. 1817 Coleridge Biogr. Lit. 153 The alienation, and, if I may hazard such an expression, the utter aloofness of the poet's own feelings. 1849 Thoreau Concord & Merr. Riv. 59 The wary independence and aloofness of his dim forest life. 1878 Dowden Studies 420 The same aloofness, the same hauteur. |