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COOLNESS
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A lack of affection or enthusiasm
Example:
a distressing coldness of tone and manner
Synonyms:
chilliness; coldness; coolness; frigidity; frigidness; iciness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("coolness" is a kind of...):
emotionlessness; unemotionality (absence of emotion)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "coolness"):
stone (a lack of feeling or expression or movement)
lukewarmness; tepidness (lack of passion, force or animation)
Derivation:
cool (psychologically cool and unenthusiastic; unfriendly or unresponsive or showing dislike)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Fearless self-possession in the face of danger
Synonyms:
coolness; nervelessness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("coolness" is a kind of...):
fearlessness (the trait of feeling no fear)
Derivation:
cool (marked by calm self-control (especially in trying circumstances); unemotional)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The property of being moderately cold
Example:
the chilliness of early morning
Synonyms:
chilliness; coolness; nip
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("coolness" is a kind of...):
cold; coldness; frigidity; frigidness; low temperature (the absence of heat)
Derivation:
cool (neither warm nor very cold; giving relief from heat)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Calm and unruffled self-assurance
Example:
he performed with all the coolness of a veteran
Synonyms:
coolness; imperturbability; imperturbableness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Hypernyms ("coolness" is a kind of...):
calmness (a feeling of calm; an absence of agitation or excitement)
Derivation:
cool (fashionable and attractive at the time; often skilled or socially adept)
Context examples:
I jumped out and came as near running as I durst, with a big silk handkerchief under my hat for coolness' sake and a brace of pistols ready primed for safety.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Only now did I realize how I had learned to lean upon my companions, upon the serene self-confidence of Challenger, and upon the masterful, humorous coolness of Lord John Roxton.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
With perfect coolness Holmes slipped across to the safe, filled his two arms with bundles of letters, and poured them all into the fire.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Between Barton and Delaford, there was that constant communication which strong family affection would naturally dictate;—and among the merits and the happiness of Elinor and Marianne, let it not be ranked as the least considerable, that though sisters, and living almost within sight of each other, they could live without disagreement between themselves, or producing coolness between their husbands.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
With a bellow of rage, Hordle John squeezed him limp in his huge arms; and then, picking him up, cast him down upon the floor with a force which might well have splintered a bone or two, had not the archer with the most perfect coolness clung to the other's forearms to break his fall.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
That he might not be irritated into an absolute fever, by the fire which Mr. Woodhouse's tender habits required almost every evening throughout the year, he soon afterwards took a hasty leave, and walked home to the coolness and solitude of Donwell Abbey.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
It was the second time he had been out with her alone, and as they rode along through the balmy warmth, just chilled by she sea-breeze to refreshing coolness, he was profoundly impressed by the fact that it was a very beautiful and well-ordered world and that it was good to be alive and to love.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
And yet a coolness grows between Miss Shepherd and myself.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
I would not have the shadow of a coolness arise, he repeated, his voice sinking a little, between the two dearest objects I have on earth.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
"I was not dreaming," I said, with some warmth, for her brazen coolness provoked me.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
