Word
Of
The
Day
nonchalant
nonchalant \nahn-shuh-LAHNT\
adjective
Someone described as nonchalant is relaxed and calm, either because they do not care about something or because they are not worried about something.
Nonchalant can also be used to describe something, such as demeanor or behavior, that expresses such relaxed, calm unconcern.
// The team showed a somewhat
nonchalant attitude at the beginning of the season, but they became more serious once the championship was within reach.
See the entry >
Examples:
"He is largely unaffected by the fame and fortune and all the talk of greatness tends to be greeted with a
nonchalant shrug." —
The Evening Times (Glasgow, Scotland), 19 Mar. 2024
Did you know?
Since
nonchalant ultimately comes from words meaning "not" and "be warm," it's no surprise that the word is all about keeping one's cool.
Nonchalant’s Old French ancestor is the verb
nonchaloir, meaning "to disregard," which combines
non-, meaning "not," with
chaloir, meaning "to concern."
Chaloir in turn traces back to the Latin
calēre, meaning "to be warm" (
calēre is also the forerunner of the heat-related English word
calorie). You might assume that the prefix
non- implies the existence of an
antonymous chalant, but no such word has developed in English. It’s no big deal though—if you want a word that means the opposite of
nonchalant, both
concerned and
interested can do the job.