standoffish C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities US /ˌstænˈdɔfɪʃ/ UK /ˌstændˈɒfɪʃ/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 adj distant and unfriendly in manner; aloof New colleagues found him standoffish until they knew him. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · distant and unfriendly in... aloofdistantunfriendlyreservedcoldremoteunapproachablehaughty ↔ Opposites friendlyapproachablewarmsociablecordial Word family Derived forms standoffishlystandoffishness Related forms standoffstand Etymology AI details From the phrasal noun 'stand-off' (to stand off, keep at a distance) plus the adjectival suffix '-ish'; 'stand' is from Old English 'standan'. standan Old English View etymology graph -> Topics Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # standoffish **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /ˌstænˈdɔfɪʃ/ **IPA (UK):** /ˌstændˈɒfɪʃ/ ## Meanings 1. distant and unfriendly in manner; aloof ## Examples - New colleagues found him standoffish until they knew him. ## Synonyms - aloof - distant - unfriendly - reserved - cold - remote - unapproachable - haughty ## Antonyms - friendly - approachable - warm - sociable - cordial ## Derived Forms - standoffishly - standoffishness ## Related Forms - standoff - stand ## Roots and Affixes - Root: standan ## Etymology From the phrasal noun 'stand-off' (to stand off, keep at a distance) plus the adjectival suffix '-ish'; 'stand' is from Old English 'standan'. ## AI Etymology Standoffish is from the phrasal noun 'stand-off' (to stand off, keep at a distance) plus the adjectival suffix '-ish'; 'stand' is from Old English 'standan'. Important recorded forms include standan (Old English). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers distant and unfriendly in manner; aloof. The wider family includes derived forms such as standoffishly and standoffishness and related words such as standoff and stand. ## Topics - Describing Qualities - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown