level-headedadj.
/ˌlɛvlˈhɛdᵻd/, U.S. /ˌlɛv(ə)lˈhɛdəd/ Having a ‘level’ head; mentally well-balanced or cool.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > common sense > [adjective]
wittyc1380
perceivedc1425
sensible?a1439
sober-minded1534
staida1555
sonsy1568
mother-witted1593
unfoolish1603
capable1609
sober1619
hard-headed1779
commonsensical1792
sensical1795
sober-minded1811
common-sensible1813
savvy1826
common sensed1834
level1869
level-headed1879
square-headed1896
1879 A. W. Tourgée Fool's Errand i. 8 Clear-headed, or, as they would now be called, level-headed, were these children of the Berkshire hills.
1898 S. Lee Life Shakespeare xiv. 245 The terse and caustic comments which Anthony's level-headed friend Enobarbus..passes on the action.
Derivatives
ˌlevel-ˈheadedness n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > common sense > [noun] > possession of
sensibleness1642
hard-headedness1819
commonsensicality1842
level-headedness1876
square-headedness1930
1876 3rd Rep. Vermont State Board Agric. 1875–6 156 That same steadiness, or, in horse parlance, level-headedness,..is quite as essential on the race track..as any where else.
1886 New Englander (New Haven, Connecticut) Feb. 179 This unexampled success is due..to the levelheadedness of its clerical guardians.
1896 Alma Mater 11 Nov. 43/2 A man whose great characteristic is level-headedness.
1916 Daily Chron. 13 Oct. 4/5 The British Air Service is now a great army,..all endowed with two sterling qualities required by the pilot of the air, courage and levelheadedness.
1927 Daily Express 9 Aug. 8/2 A tribute to the level-headedness of the country which in his puny way he tries to wreck.
1937 A. Koestler Spanish Test. iv. 84 English journalists..with their traditional feeling for level-headedness and decency, have often had to complain of this difficulty.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1876