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Fine Dictionary

nonchalance

ˈnɑnʃəˈlɑns
WordNet
Portrait of the poet and draftsman Jacob de Vos Willemsz, sitting nonchalantly on a chair.
Portrait of the poet and draftsman Jacob de Vos Willemsz, sitting nonchalantly on a chair.
  1. (n) nonchalance
    the trait of remaining calm and seeming not to care; a casual lack of concern
Illustrations
Portrait of the French writer and composer Jean Baptiste Rousseau (1671-1741), wearing a nonchalantly open shirt.
Portrait of the French writer and composer Jean Baptiste Rousseau (1671-1741), wearing a nonchalantly open shirt.
Pan sits on a barrel against a rock, nonchalantly holding a goat's lead in his left hand. He is joined by the young Syrinx and three young satyrs. This print is part of a four-part series about mythological figures.
Pan sits on a barrel against a rock, nonchalantly holding a goat's lead in his left hand. He is joined by the young Syrinx and three young satyrs. This print is part of a four-part series about mythological figures.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
  1. Nonchalance
    Indifference; carelessness; coolness.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
  1. (n) nonchalance
    Coolness; indifference; unconcern: as, he heard of his loss with great nonchalance.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
  1. (n) Nonchalance
    non′shal-ans unconcern: coolness: indifference
Quotations
Jazz music is an intensified feeling of nonchalance.
Francoise Sagan
Etymology

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary F. See Nonchalant

Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary Fr., non, not, chaloir, to care for—L. calēre, to be warm.

Usage in the news

Seth Myers offers a rather nonchalant explanation for his recent success. saljournal.com

"I don't know," he responded nonchalantly. ashingtonpost.com

Or another, where he sits nonchalant on the drive shaft of a steam engine, as it carries him into a train yard. laweekly.com

After faking out attackers, insects uncurl and nonchalantly crawl away. msnbc.msn.com

Ruby Braff and His Buddies Controlled Nonchalance , Vol 2. jazztimes.com

Kobe Bryant nonchalant about Shaq's digs at Dwight Howard. latimes.com

Panicked Evacuations Mix With Nonchalance in Hurricane Sandy's Path. nytimes.com

"I just peed ," Handler, 36, says nonchalantly. usmagazine.com

Some look alert, some nonchalant, a few terrified. nytimes.com

Instead of pulling over after a police car turned on his lights behind her, the Coral Springs, FL, woman nonchalantly ventured through the McDonald's drive-thru to order lunch. kfyo.com

"Obama has gone from touting his commitment to changing business as usual to nonchalantly embracing it," the RNC said. ashingtonpost.com

We've all done it -- you know, walking nonchalantly yet managing to trip over an object that rises out of the ground no more than an inch. columbian.com

Waiting to cross the street, a pedestrian nonchalantly leaned against a lamp pole, and the pole nearly fell over. tulsaworld.com

If there exists a realm in which the speed and edge of classic punk rock seamlessly and unironically meld with the nonchalant restraint of 1960s surf poppers like Dick Dale and his Del-tones, Orca Team has certainly found it. cmj.com

Stonewall Uprising confronts our nonchalant present-day sexual freedoms with the history of struggle that peaked in the 1969 Stonewall riots. nypress.com

Usage in literature

She put it with the best nonchalance that she could assume. "Destiny" by Charles Neville Buck

Nonchalance is always respected by the police. "Hearts and Masks" by Harold MacGrath

He was no stranger to New York, and usually he took his cities as they came, with a matter-of-fact nonchalance. "The Stolen Singer" by Martha Idell Fletcher Bellinger

All this time the cowboy showed the most extreme nonchalance. "Bert Wilson in the Rockies" by J. W. Duffield

The young man held out his hand with a nonchalant gesture. "Bella Donna" by Robert Hichens

Douglas leaned back in his chair, and looked nonchalantly on like a spectator of a pageant. "The Black Douglas" by S. R. Crockett

Sidwell lit a cigar nonchalantly and smoked for a moment in silence. "Ben Blair" by Will Lillibridge

She arose and, walking over to him, put her hand nonchalantly on his shoulder. "Visionaries" by James Huneker

When I came in, this nonchalant narrator was having the time of his young life. "Soldier Silhouettes on our Front" by William L. Stidger

And he could swear, and frequently did so, with all the nonchalance of a Chinaman and the intensity and picturesqueness of an American. "Emerson's Wife and Other Western Stories" by Florence Finch Kelly

Usage in poetry
But I smile back, in airy nonchalance,--
The more determined on my wayward quest,
As some bright memory a moment dawns
A morning in my breast--
With measureless nonchalance and pride,
You take the humming bird's caress;
The brown melodious bee must bide
Your haughty, arrogant willfulness!
How nonchalantly she wears her clothes,
How expensive they are as well!
And the sound of her voice is as soft and deep
As the Christ Church tenor bell.
Slim youth on the bathing beach,
Nonchalantly exposing your beauty
To the watery gaze of drowned females,
How little they dream
That you belong
Wholly to me, A slim youth!
Already a nonchalant breed, silently emerging, appears on the
streets,
People's lips salute only doers, lovers, satisfiers, positive
knowers; There will shortly be no more priests—I say their
work is done,
He uses powder on his face
And his handkerchiefs are trimmed with lace;
He loves to play progressive euchre
And spend his papa's hard-earned lucre.
He wears an air of nonchalance
And always takes in every dance.