aloof Meaning, Definition & Usage

adjective satellite remote in manner
upstage; distant.
- stood apart with aloof dignity
- a distant smile
- he was upstage with strangers
adverb in an aloof manner
- the local gentry and professional classes had held aloof for the school had accepted their sons readily enough

Pref. a- + loof, fr. D. loef luff, and so meaning, as a nautical word, to the windward. See Loof, Luff.

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

Away from; clear from. Obs.
Rivetus . . . would fain work himself aloof these rocks and quicksands. Milton.