ALOOF • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Aloof

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/əlˈuf/ Listen

noun

Aloof n. (Zool.) Same as Alewife.

adverb

Aloof adv.

At or from a distance, but within view, or at a small distance; apart; away. "Our palace stood aloof from streets."

Without sympathy; unfavorably. "To make the Bible as from the hand of God, and then to look at it aloof and with caution, is the worst of all impieties."

preposition

Aloof prep. Away from; clear from. (Obs.) "Rivetus... would fain work himself aloof these rocks and quicksands."

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Etymology of 'Aloof'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Aloof" Quotes from Famous Books

... Boston society is concerned. Consequently as time went on and I could achieve prominence in no other way, I sought consolation for the social joys denied by my betters in acquiring the reputation of a sport. I held myself coldly aloof from the fashionable men of my class and devoted myself to a few cronies who found themselves in much the same position as my own. In a short time we became known as the fastest set in college, and our escapades were by no means ...

— The Confessions of Artemas Quibble • Arthur Train

... weighed in the balances and found wanting; while the party that still remained faithful to the law was composed mainly of narrow-minded fanatics, whose wild speculations, long-winded prayers and frequent vows, Koheleth considers deserving objects of derision. He himself held aloof from either camp. He took his stand outside the circle of both, surveying life from the angle of vision of the philosophical citizen of the world. But it would be idle to deny that he had far more in common with the "impious" than with ...

— The Sceptics of the Old Testament: Job - Koheleth - Agur • Emile Joseph Dillon

... some diabolical illumination, the sinful city kindled into light like glowing charcoal. From Posilippo on the left, along the palaces of the Chiaja, up to S. Elmo on the hill, past Santa Lucia, down on the Marinella, beyond Portici, beyond Torre del Greco, where Vesuvius towered up aloof, an angry mount of amethystine gloom, the conflagration spread and reached Pompeii, and dwelt on Torre dell'Annunziata. Stationary, lurid, it smouldered while the day died slowly. The long, densely populated sea-line from ...

— New Italian sketches • John Addington Symonds

... each other more like enemies than lovers; and Caroline seemed to be more than ever withdrawn and aloof—for all her ignorance and simplicity of feeling—when she answered him in an inward brooding tone: "Yes, I understand." For she really saw neither Godfrey nor the shore, only Laura coming flushed ...

— The Privet Hedge • J. E. Buckrose

... I wasn't tempted. How have you kept yourself so aloof all these years, John—so far above the furious issues ...

— The Co-Citizens • Corra Harris

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