sangfroid

plural sangfroids · alternative sang-froid · alternative sang froid

1. uncountableusuallyComposure, self-possession or imperturbability especially when in a dangerous situation.

   He handled the stressful situation with great sangfroid.

   5 more examples

   The provincial people, intimidated by Gudrun’s perfect sang-froid and exclusive bareness of manner, said of her: “She is a smart woman."

   1920 November 9, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 1, in Women in Love, New York, N.Y.: Privately printed [by Thomas Seltzer] for subscribers only, →OCLC

   We can handle functions of a few variables with some aplomb and view sets of quantities totalling 10⁶ or 10⁷ with sangfroid.

   1961, Richard Bellman, Adaptive Control Processes: A Guided Tour, Princeton University Press, page 197

   Indeed, some of the little naked human figures seemed to display a near comical sangfroid, even as they were pecked by giant birds, hatched out of eggs, had huge flowers inserted in their bottoms, or, in the case of one of my favourites, sported a monstrous blueberry instead of a head.

   2011 July 28, Terry Castle, “Do I like it?”, in London Review of Books, volume 33, number 15, →ISSN

   Toward the end of the war, Benoit was sent off on his own with forged papers; he wound up working as a horse groom at a chalet in the Loire valley. Mandelbrot describes this harrowing youth with great sangfroid.

   2013 January 28, Brian Hayes, “Father of Fractals”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 1, archived from the original on 03 Apr 2013, page 62

   If there’s one unspoken club rule, it’s that when we meet, we only discuss the play in question: no gossip; no politics; no families; and no football. As an association, we demonstrate near-Olympic sang-froid.

   2020 August 22, Robert McCrum, “For ever and a day: why we turn to Shakespeare at times of crisis”, in The Observer, archived from the original on 04 Jan 2021

   Synonyms: aplomb, poise, unflappability