aloof

comparative more aloof · superlative most aloof

1. At or from a distance, but within view, or at a small distance; apart; away.

   The noise approaches, tho' our palace stood Aloof from streets, encompass'd with a wood

   1697, John Dryden, “Part 13”, in Virgil's Aeneid, Harvard Classics edition, translation of original by Virgil, published 2004, page 113

   2 more examples

   Sisyphus also I saw, with unwelcomest taskage tormented, / Toilsomely hoisting aloof, unassisted, a ponderous round stone.

   1829, William Taylor, Historic Survey of German Poetry, page 73

   Mother[…]considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom, from which every Kensingtonian held aloof, except on the conventional tip-and-run excursions in pursuit of shopping, tea and theatres.

   1921, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC

2. Without sympathy; unfavorably.

   But to open the Bible in this spirit — to take the Book as from the hand of God, and then to look at it aloof, and with caution, as if throughout it were illusory and enigmatical, is the worst of all impieties.

   1832, Isaac Taylor, Saturday evening, page 363

comparative more aloof · superlative most aloof

1. Either physically or emotionally remote: distant, standoffish.

   None may ever hear the speech of the poets of that city, to whom the gods have spoken. It stands a city aloof. There hath been no rumour of it—I alone have dreamed of it, and I may not be sure that my dreams are true.

   1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods, London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 3

   Synonyms: offish, remote, standoffish, cool, distant, frosty, hankty, hard-to-get

1. obsoleteAway from; clear of.

   Rivetus […] would fain work himself aloof these rocks and quicksands.

   1643, John Milton, Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce