aplomb
pronunciation
How to pronounce aplomb in British English:
UK [əˈplɒm]
How to pronounce aplomb in American English:
US [əˈplɑm]
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- Noun:
- great coolness and composure under strain
Word Origin
- aplomb
- aplomb: [18] Originally, aplomb meant literally ‘quality of being perpendicular’. It was borrowed from French, where it was a lexicalization of the phrase à plomb ‘according to the plumb line’ (plomb came from Latin plumbum ‘lead’, also the ultimate source of English plumb, plumber, plumbago, and plummet). The notion of ‘uprightness’ gave rise in the 19th century to the metaphorical sense ‘composure’.=> plumb, plumber, plummet
- aplomb (n.)
- "assurance, confidence," 1828, from French aplomb (16c.), literally "perpendicularity," from phrase à plomb "poised upright, balanced," literally "on the plumb line," from Latin plumbum "(the metal) lead" (see plumb (n.)), of which the weight at the end of the line was made.
Example
- 1. It handled everything I threw at it with aplomb , and never crashed .
- 2. It is true that lula inherited a fiscal crisis and handled it with determination and aplomb .
- 3. So far they 're handling the daylight circus with the same aplomb they displayed in their shadowy tomb .
- 4. Gloves : the way william had to put white gloves on before entering the carriage , not to mention the practiced aplomb with which he did up the buttons one-handed .
- 5. Nothing now seemed to disturb the serene aplomb of our hosts who acted as if welcoming the special emissary of the american president for the first time in the history of the people 's republic of china was the most natural occurrence .