cool

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a wide-ranging term of approval that defies conventional definition but means roughly 'fashionably impressive and acceptable' or simply 'okay, fine', is one of the best known words in youth slang:

He had seen Devon in the street and hid from him, unable to smile in his face and say that everything was cool—G. Joseph, 2001.

Flourishing in the 1950s, its use declined after the following decade, and then achieved a revival at the end of the 20th century. As applied to music (especially jazz) cool denotes a style that is restrained and relaxed. Then in the 1990s Cool Britannia (a play on 'Rule Britannia' and derived from the title of a 1967 song) came to symbolize Britain perceived as a stylish and fashionable place and an international centre of contemporary art, popular music, film, and fashion.

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adjective

1. Marked by a low temperature: chill, chilly, cold, nippy, shivery. See hot/cold/lukewarm.
2. Not easily excited, even under pressure: calm, collected, composed, cool-headed, detached, even, even-tempered, imperturbable, nonchalant, possessed, unflappable, unruffled. See calm/agitation.
3. Not friendly, sociable, or warm in manner: aloof, chill, chilly, distant, offish, remote, reserved, reticent, solitary, standoffish, unapproachable, uncommunicative, undemonstrative, withdrawn. See attitude/good attitude/bad attitude/neutral attitude, hot/cold/lukewarm.
4. Particularly excellent: divine, fabulous, fantastic, fantastical, glorious, marvelous, sensational, splendid, superb, terrific, wonderful. Informal dandy, dreamy, great, ripping, super, swell, tremendous. Slang groovy, hot, keen, neat, nifty. Idioms: out of this world. See good/bad.

verb

To bring one's emotions under control: collect, compose, contain, control, simmer down. Idioms: cool it. See restraint/unrestraint.

noun

A stable, calm state of the emotions: aplomb, balance, collectedness, composure, coolness, equanimity, imperturbability, imperturbableness, nonchalance, poise, sang-froid, self-possession, unflappability. See calm/agitation, feelings.

Idioms beginning with cool:
cool, calm, and collected
cool down
cool out
cool one's heels

See also keep cool; keep one's cool; play it cool.

adj

Definition: aloof, disapproving
Antonyms: approving, friendly, kind, responsive, warm

adj

Definition: calm, collected
Antonyms: agitated, annoyed, excited, upset

adj

Definition: cold, nippy
Antonyms: hot, temperate, warm

adj

Definition: excellent
Antonyms: poor, square, uncool, unpopular

v

Definition: chill
Antonyms: heat, warm

v

Definition: take a break; abate
Antonyms: continue, go on, increase, step up

Origin: 1949

Isn't it cool to wait so long to bring up this word? After all, when we're cool, we're not in a hurry.

Referring to a comfortable temperature on the other side of hot, cool has been around as long as the English language. But in certain slang uses, cool is a much newer phenomenon. It was after World War II, in 1947, that the Charlie Parker Quartet recorded a number called "Cool Blues." In 1948, Life magazine introduced cool to a general audience in the title "Bebop: New Jazz School is Led by Trumpeter Who is Hot, Cool and Gone." For the benefit of general readers, The New Yorker in July 1948 explained, "The bebop people have a language of their own.... Their expressions of approval include 'cool'!"

All this was leading, perhaps in 1949, to the sense of cool meaning "composure or self-control." We find written evidence of this use first among African Americans, as in the dialogue of a 1953 novel: "Dig yourself, creep, don't lose your cool." By the 1960s, everyone seemed to have cool to lose or to keep.

Over the years, many different meanings of cool have accumulated, all available to cool Americans in recent times. Cool has meant "daring" (1839), "clever" (1924), "exciting" (1933), "stylish" (1946), "cautious" or "under control" (1952), and "satisfactory" or "OK" (1953). To cool it has meant "to stop" (1952), "to die" (1960), and "to relax" (1986). In the 1990s, among young people, cool in the sense "approval or appreciation" has even taken on a distinctive pronunciation closer to that of cull. That's cool.

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mod. an alternate spelling of cool.; excellent, neat, and good.  Man, this is really kewl, I mean truly phat!

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IN BRIEF: adv. - In a composed and unconcerned manner.

Tutor's tip: He walked, very coolly (acting calmly), down into the "coulee" (ravine).

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

as in: awesome
sign description: A modified x-hand twists forward at the side of the mouth.

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verb trans.
verb trans., US

1: To kill. (1930 —) .
J. Morris He wasn't killed in any private fight....He was cooled by a Chinese agent (1969).

2: to cool it orig US To relax, calm down, take it easy. (1953 —) .
Crescendo Cool it will you? I said once a week, there's no need to go stark raving mad (1968). adjective

3: orig US
a: orig jazz and bebop Restrained, relaxed, unemotional; hence excellent, marvellous; fashionable. (1947 —) .
Observer They got long, sloppy haircuts and wide knot ties and no-press suits with fat lapels. Very cool (1959).

b: All right, OK; satisfactory, acceptable, unproblematic; also, unconcerned about or content with something. (1952 —) .
A. Thomas I am 'laying another trip' on him but that's cool, he can deal with it (1984).
Keo.co.uk Blacks cool about centre quandary [headline]. The All Blacks are not concerned by the fact that they haven't settled on a centre combination (2007).
Worldtribune.com Poll finds most of world is cool with China catching up with U.S. [headline] A new public opinion poll shows a majority of the American people do not see a danger in China's economic and military buildup (2007). noun


4: US A truce between gangs. (1958 —) .
H. Salisbury A 'cool' was negotiated by street club workers. But it was an uneasy truce, often broken (1959).

5: Composure, relaxedness. (1966 —) .
Listener Professor Marcus keeps his cool when sex is being discussed; all the four-letter words are used without blanching (1967). Cf. supercool adjective.

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For a list of words related to cool, see:

• Cold weather
• Calm, Gentle, or Easygoing

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See words rhyming with "coolish."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Cool.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - kølig, koldblodig, uengageret, uvenlig, fræk, kølig og afslappet, skøn
n. - kølighed, køligt sted, fatning, ro
v. tr. - køle, svale, kølne
v. intr. - køles, svales, kølnes, lægge sig, blive rolig

idioms:

• cool as a cucumber    kold og rolig
• cool down    lægge sig
• cool hand    kold hånd
• cool it    slap nu af
• cool off    afsvale(s), fald ned
• cool one's heels    stå og trippe
• keep your cool    bevare fatningen

Nederlands (Dutch)
koel(te), rustig, kil, zelfverzekerd, oké, verkoelen, afkoelen, te gek

Français (French)
adj. - frais, froid, calme, détaché, décontracté, cool, branché, (US) super, (Mus) cool
adv. - à son aise
n. - fraîcheur, sang-froid
v. tr. - refroidir, rafraîchir, (fig) calmer (colère)
v. intr. - refroidir, rafraîchir, tiédir, faiblir (enthousiasme), se dégrader (amitié)

idioms:

• cool as a cucumber    froid comme de la glace
• cool down    refroidir, rafraîchir, apaiser (qn), (fig) se calmer
• cool hand    rusé, finaud
• cool it    calme-toi (excl), on se calme (excl)
• cool off    se refroidir (l'enthousiasme, etc)
• cool one's heels    faire le pied de grue, faire attendre qn, faire poireauter qn
• keep one's cool    garder son sang-froid

Deutsch (German)
v. - kühlen, abkühlen
n. - Kühle
adj. - kühl, cool
adv. - kühl, cool

idioms:

• cool as a cucumber    kaltblütig, eiskalt
• cool down    abkühlen
• cool hand    Schlauberger
• cool it    beruhig dich
• cool off    abkühlen
• cool one's heels    sich lange gedulden müssen
• keep one's cool    ruhig bleiben, seine Ruhe bewahren

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - ψύχω/-ομαι, δροσίζω/-ομαι, κατασιγάζω, (για ενθουσιασμό κ.λπ.) κρυώνω, υποχωρώ
n. - δροσιά, ψύχρα, αταραξία, ψυχραιμία, θράσος
adj. - δροσερός, δροσιστικός, ψυχρός, (μτφ.) ατάραχος, ψύχραιμος, ξεσκολισμένος, φίνος, τσίφτικος, (για μουσική) απαλή, (για ποσό) ολάκερος, σωστός
adv. - ατάραχα, ψύχραιμα

idioms:

• cool as a cucumber    εντελώς ατάραχος
• cool down    κατευνάζω/-ομαι, ηρεμώ
• cool hand    ψύχραιμος τύπος
• cool it    ηρέμησε!, κόφτο!
• cool off    (καθομ.) ηρεμώ
• cool one's heels    ξεροσταλιάζω (περιμένοντας)
• keep your cool    διατήρησε την ψυχραιμία σου

Italiano (Italian)
raffreddare, fresco, calmo, freddo

idioms:

• cool as a cucumber    fresco come una rosa
• cool down    raffreddare
• cool hand    volpone
• cool it    calmarsi
• cool off    raffreddarsi, calmarsi
• cool one's heels    dover aspettare
• keep/lose your cool    perdere la pazienza
• play it cool    agire con calma

Português (Portuguese)
v. - refrescar, esfriar, acalmar, acalmar-se
n. - fresco (m), calma (f) (gír.)
adj. - fresco, calmo, ponderado, ousado
adv. - friamente

idioms:

• cool as a cucumber    impecável, acabado de sair do banho, de sangue frio
• cool down    acalme-se
• cool hand    descarado
• cool it    acalme-se
• cool off    acalmar-se
• cool one's heels    esperar sentado
• keep/lose your cool    manter/perder a calma
• play it cool    lidar calmamente com uma situação

Русский (Russian)
остывать, охлаждать, прохлада, прохладный, спокойный

idioms:

• cool as a cucumber    хранить олимпийское спокойствие
• cool down    остыть
• cool hand    невозмутимый
• cool it    брось, перестань
• cool off    охладить, остыть
• cool one's heels    ждать
• keep/lose your cool    хранить/утратить самообладание
• play it cool    хранить спокойствие, не терять голову

Español (Spanish)
adj. - fresco, frescura, insolente, sosegado, tranquilo, frío, indiferente, de sangre fría
adv. - insolentemente, sosegadamente, tranquilamente, fríamente
n. - fresco, insolente, indiferente, de sangre fría
v. tr. - enfriar, refrigerar, frescor
v. intr. - enfriarse, refrigerarse, refrescarse, insolentarse, sosegarse, tranquilizarse, tornarse indiferente

idioms:

• cool as a cucumber    más fresco que una lechuga
• cool down    enfriarse, refrescarse, calmarse
• cool hand    tipo taimado, un fresco
• cool it    ¡cálmate!
• cool off    perder el entusiasmo, refrescarse, enfriarse
• cool one's heels    hacer antesala, tener que esperar
• keep one's cool    mantenerse tranquilo, mantener la calma

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - svalka, kyla, lugna, mörda (sl.), svalna, kylas, lugna ner sig
n. - svalka, sval luft, sval plats
adj. - sval, kylig, kallsinnig, kallblodig, oberörd, jättebra (am. sl.)
adv. - svalt, kyligt, kallsinnigt, kallblodigt, lugnt, oberört

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
凉快的, 冷淡的, 冷静的, 沉着的, 无礼的, 凉爽, 凉爽的空气, 使凉快, 使平静下来, 使冷却, 变凉, 平息, 冷却下来

idioms:

• cool as a cucumber    非常凉, 十分镇静
• cool down    变凉, 平静下来
• cool hand    镇静
• cool it    放松下来
• cool off    变凉, 平静下来
• cool one's heels    空等
• keep your cool    保持冷静

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 涼快的, 冷淡的, 冷靜的, 沈著的, 無禮的
n. - 涼爽, 涼爽的空氣
v. tr. - 使涼快, 使平靜下來, 使冷卻
v. intr. - 變涼, 平息, 冷卻下來

idioms:

• cool as a cucumber    非常涼, 十分鎮靜
• cool down    變涼, 平靜下來
• cool hand    鎮靜
• cool it    放鬆下來
• cool off    變涼, 平靜下來
• cool one's heels    空等
• keep your cool    保持冷靜

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 서늘한, 식은, 차분한, 뻔뻔스러운
n. - 서늘한 것, 냉정함
v. tr. - 차가워지다, 누그러지다
v. intr. - 식히다

idioms:

• cool down    노염이나 흥미 따위가 식다, 진정시키다
• cool off    죽이다, 가라앉다, 냉정해지다
• keep your cool    침착하다

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 涼しい, 冷たい, 冷静な, 抑制された, 冷淡な, 冷ややかな, 掛け値なしの
n. - 涼しさ, 涼しいとき, 涼味
v. - 冷やす, 涼しくする, 静める

idioms:

• cool as a cucumber    落ち着き払った
• cool customer    図々しい奴
• cool down    落ち着かせる, 冷やす, 冷ます
• cool hand    あつかましい人, 冷静な人
• cool it    のんびりする, うちとける
• cool off    冷ます, かっこいい
• cool one's heels    長く待たされる
• keep/lose your cool    冷静さを保つ/失う

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) برد, هدأ (الاسم) هدوء, برودة (صفه) بارد, هادي, فاتر (ظرف) ببرود, بهدوء, بفتور‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮קריר, צונן, קר-רוח, חצוף, ממש, גיזעי, ללא גוזמה, טבין ותקילין, רגוע, לא-ידידותי, נהדר (מדוברת), אופנתי, מושך‬
n. - ‮קור, צינה, שלוות-נפש, מקום קר, אוויר קר‬
v. tr. - ‮קירר, הצן, צינן‬
v. intr. - ‮הצן, התקרר, שכך‬

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