word of the day: december 27, 2023
sangfroid
Composure;Calm down
noun /sahng-frwah/ [ˌsɑŋ frwɑ]
what it means
sangfroid refers to the ability to stay calm in difficult or dangerous situations.
Sangfroid refers to the ability to remain calm in difficult or dangerous situations.
sangfroid in context
tennis star, novak] djokovic’s wins are not always electric or explosive, but his patience is unparalleled. his ability to wait, to self-discipline and withhold the urge to strike until sensing human weakness, is its own kind of generative art. and he excels most at moments that require a machinelike sangfroid.” caira conner, intelligencer, 23 aug. 2023
Tennis Star, Novak] Djokovic's Wins weren't always explosive, but his patience was unmatched. His endurance, self-discipline and inhibition, his ability to perceive human weaknesses, are all his own arts. His machine-like calmness is the best. ”
he displayed remarkable sangfroid when everyone else was panicking during the crisis.
While everyone else panicked during the crisis, he acted unusually calm.
did you know?
sangfroid comes from the french term sang-froid, which literally translates as “cold blood.” when describing amphibians and reptiles, cold-blooded means “h**ing a body temperature that is similar to the temperature of the environment,” but to dub a person cold-blooded is to say that the person shows no sympathy or mercy to others. by the mid-1700s, english speakers had been using cold-blooded to describe the ruthless among them for more than a century, but in sangfroid they found a way to put a positive spin on the idea of ice in the veins: they borrowed the french term to describe the quality of someone who keeps their composure under strain—that is, not a “cold fish” or “icicle” but someone who is cool as a cucumber.
Sangfroid comes from the French term sang-froid, which literally means "cold blood ". When describing amphibians and reptiles, cold-blooded means "body temperature similar to the ambient temperature," but to call a cold-blooded person is to say that the person has no compassion or compassion for others. By the mid-1700s, English speakers had been using the term "cold-blooded" to describe the ruthlessness among them for almost a century, but in sangfroid they found a way to positively interpret the notion of coldness in their veins: they borrowed French terms to describe the qualities of a person who remains calm under pressure, that is, not "cold fish" or "icicle", but someone as calm as a cucumber.
word family quiz
rearrange the letters to reveal a sangfroid relative that means “marked by eager hopefulness; confidently optimistic”: uigsenan
sanguine