standoffish

standoffish
standoffish 1826, from STAND (Cf. stand) OFF (Cf. off) + -ISH (Cf. -ish). Verbal phrase stand off "hold aloof" is from c.1600. Related: Standoffishly; standoffishness.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • standoffish — stand*off ish, stand offish stand off isha. Shy or distant in manner; cold; aloof; reserved; not friendly. Syn: offish. [PJC] {stand*off ish*ness}, n. {stand*off ish*ly}, adv. [PJC] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • standoffish — index unapproachable Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • standoffish — [adj] cold, distant aloof, antisocial, cool, eremitic, haughty, indifferent, misanthropic, reclusive, remote, reserved, solitary, unapproachable, uncompanionable, unsociable, withdrawn; concepts 401,404 Ant. friendly, sociable, warm …   New thesaurus

  • standoffish — [stand΄ôf′ish] adj. reserved and cool; aloof standoffishly adv. standoffishness n …   English World dictionary

  • standoffish — [staend”ofijl mod. aloof. □ Bob is sort of standoffish until he gets to know you. □ Don’t be so standoffish! Join in the fun. □ I am a standoffish guy …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • standoffish — {adj.} Stiff; aloof; reserved in manner. * /The famous chess player is hard to get to know because he is so standoffish./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • standoffish — {adj.} Stiff; aloof; reserved in manner. * /The famous chess player is hard to get to know because he is so standoffish./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • standoffish — adjective Aloof; reserved; unsociable and unfriendly. His initial impression was that he was a bit standoffish or not over effusive. Syn: cold, distant See Also: standoffishness …   Wiktionary

  • standoffish — stand|off|ish [ ,stænd ɔfıʃ ] adjective a standoffish person behaves in a formal way that is not friendly because they do not want to get involved with other people …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • standoffish — adj Stiff; aloof; reserved in manner. The famous chess player is hard to get to know because he is so standoffish …   Словарь американских идиом

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