standoffish

See also: stand-offish

English

Alternative forms

• stand-offish

Etymology

From stand off +‎ -ish.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /stænˈdɒf.ɪʃ/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (Conservative RP) IPA^(key): /stænˈdɔː.fɪʃ/
• (General American) enPR: ŏf, IPA^(key): /stænˈdɔ.fɪʃ/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /stænˈdɑ.fɪʃ/
  • (æ-tensing, cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): [steənˈdɑ.fɪʃ]

Adjective

standoffish (comparative more standoffish, superlative most standoffish)

1. Aloof; reserved; unsociable and unfriendly.
   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 213, columns 1–2:

     He was stand-offish with the other agents. They on their side said he was the manager’s spy upon them.

   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 16: Eumaeus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 611:

     His initial impression was that he was a bit standoffish or not over effusive […]

   • 1928, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter VII, in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, [Germany?]: Privately printed, →OCLC, page 96:

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

Synonyms

• cold
• distant

Derived terms

• standoffishly
• standoffishness

Translations

unsociable

Bulgarian: сдържан (bg) (sdǎržan), резервиран (bg) (rezerviran) Finnish: kylmäkiskoinen (fi) German: reserviert (de), spröde (de), hochnäsig (de) Irish: coimhthíoch, doicheallach 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 Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
• “standoffish”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• Oxford English Dictionary, second edition (1989)
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987–1996.