nonchalant

English

WOTD – 10 March 2009

Etymology

Borrowed from French nonchalant, from Old French nonchaloir (“to be unconcerned”), from non- (“not”) + chaloir (“to have concern for”), from Latin non (“not”) + calēre (“to be warm”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈnɒn.ʃəl.ənt/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˌnɑn.ʃəˈlɑnt/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Adjective

nonchalant (comparative more nonchalant, superlative most nonchalant)

  1. Casually calm and relaxed.
    We handled the whole frenetic situation with a nonchalant attitude.
  2. Indifferent; unconcerned; behaving as if detached.
    He is far too nonchalant about such a serious matter.

Synonyms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Danish

Etymology

From French nonchalant.

Adjective

nonchalant

  1. nonchalant, offhand

Inflection

Inflection of nonchalant
Positive Comparative Superlative
Common singular nonchalant — —2
Neuter singular nonchalant — —2
Plural nonchalante — —2
Definite attributive1 nonchalante — —
1) When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite, the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
2) The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

Adverb

nonchalant

  1. nonchalantly, offhandedly

Dutch

Etymology

From French nonchalant.

Pronunciation

  • nonchalant(file)

Adjective

nonchalant (comparative nonchalanter, superlative nonchalantst)

  1. careless, showing no interest or effort

Inflection

Inflection of nonchalant
uninflected nonchalant
inflected nonchalante
comparative nonchalanter
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial nonchalantnonchalanterhet nonchalantst
het nonchalantste
indefinite m./f. sing. nonchalantenonchalanterenonchalantste
n. sing. nonchalantnonchalanternonchalantste
plural nonchalantenonchalanterenonchalantste
definite nonchalantenonchalanterenonchalantste
partitive nonchalantsnonchalanters—

French

Etymology

Present participle of Old French nonchaloir (“to have no importance”), from non + chaloir, equivalent to Latin non (“not”) + calēre (“to be warm”).

Adjective

nonchalant (feminine singular nonchalante, masculine plural nonchalants, feminine plural nonchalantes)

  1. Marked by a lack of vivacity, vigour, liveliness; slow-moving; indolent.
  2. Cool, relaxed

Usage notes

  • Although French nonchalant is usually appropriate where the English one is used, its meaning is different.

Further reading

German

Etymology

Borrowed from French nonchalant, from Old French nonchaloir, from Latin non (“not”) + calēre (“to be warm”).

Pronunciation

  • Audio(file)

Adjective

nonchalant (comparative nonchalanter, superlative am nonchalantesten)

  1. nonchalant

Declension

Comparative forms of nonchalant
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter all genders
predicative er ist nonchalanter sie ist nonchalanter es ist nonchalanter sie sind nonchalanter
strong declension
(without article)		 nominative nonchalanterer nonchalantere nonchalanteres nonchalantere
genitive nonchalanteren nonchalanterer nonchalanteren nonchalanterer
dative nonchalanterem nonchalanterer nonchalanterem nonchalanteren
accusative nonchalanteren nonchalantere nonchalanteres nonchalantere
weak declension
(with definite article)		 nominative der nonchalantere die nonchalantere das nonchalantere die nonchalanteren
genitive des nonchalanteren der nonchalanteren des nonchalanteren der nonchalanteren
dative dem nonchalanteren der nonchalanteren dem nonchalanteren den nonchalanteren
accusative den nonchalanteren die nonchalantere das nonchalantere die nonchalanteren
mixed declension
(with indefinite article)		 nominative ein nonchalanterer eine nonchalantere ein nonchalanteres (keine) nonchalanteren
genitive eines nonchalanteren einer nonchalanteren eines nonchalanteren (keiner) nonchalanteren
dative einem nonchalanteren einer nonchalanteren einem nonchalanteren (keinen) nonchalanteren
accusative einen nonchalanteren eine nonchalantere ein nonchalanteres (keine) nonchalanteren

Further reading

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.