stand-offish
/standˈɒfɪʃ
/adjective informal
Distant and cold in manner; unfriendly: he was an arrogant, stand-offish prig...
- She never won widespread popular approval with her stand-offish manner.
- He hadn't been cruel or physically abusive, merely distant and stand-offish.
- Although her publicity shots present her as a sultry, moody, sleepy-eyed blonde with a slightly sneering, stand-offish expression, Herbert couldn't be more down-to-earth, likeable and friendly.
Synonyms
aloof, distant, remote, detached, impersonal, withdrawn, reserved, uncommunicative, unforthcoming, unapproachable, unfriendly, unsociable, cool, chilly, cold, haughty, disdainful, uninvolved, unresponsive, indifferent, unconcerned, preoccupied, abstracted;
introspective, introvert, introverted
rare Olympian
Derivatives
stand-offishly
- I asked if I could be upgraded and was stand-offishly told no.
- I behave pretty stand-offishly, and consequently nobody but you makes much of an effort to talk to me.
- The player was stand-offishly cold and uncooperative with the media for the two weeks prior.
stand-offishness
- Other children sometimes mis-interpret your little Virgo's shyness as diffidence or stand-offishness.
- There was little evidence of the usual huffiness and stand-offishness we are normally greeted with.
- Typical Edinburgh stand-offishness is being blamed for its failure.