cool
English
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- (England, Wales) enPR: ko͞ol, IPA(key): /kuːl/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - (Scotland) IPA(key): /kʉl/
- (US) IPA(key): /kul/
- Rhymes: -uːl
Etymology 1
From Middle English cool, from Old English cōl (“cool, cold, tranquil, calm”), from Proto-West Germanic *kōl(ī), from Proto-Germanic *kōlaz, *kōluz (“cool”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“cold”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian köil (“cool”), West Frisian koel (“cool”), Dutch koel (“cool”), Limburgish kool (“cool”), German Low German köhl (“cool”), German kühl (“cool”). Related to cold.
Adjective
cool (comparative cooler, superlative coolest)
- Of a mildly low temperature.
- Synonym: chilly
- Antonyms: lukewarm, tepid, warm
- I like cool weather the most 'cause it's not too hot to wear a jacket but I won't be too cold in my shorts.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
- The day was cool and snappy for August, and the Rise all green with a lavish nature. Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams, the boards giving back the clatter of our horses' feet: […] .
- Allowing or suggesting heat relief.
- Linen has made cool and breathable clothing for millennia.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 2, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
- Now that she had rested and had fed from the luncheon tray Mrs. Broome had just removed, she had reverted to her normal gaiety. She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.
- Of a color, in the range of violet to green.
- Antonym: warm
- If you have a reddish complexion, you should mainly wear cool colors.
- (of a person) Not showing emotion; calm and in control of oneself.
- Synonyms: distant, phlegmatic, standoffish, unemotional
- Antonym: passionate
- Be cool. There's no need to panic.
- Unenthusiastic, lukewarm, skeptical.
- Antonym: warm
- His proposals had a cool reception.
- Calmly audacious.
- 1868, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, chapter 13, in Little Women: […], part first, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, published 1869, →OCLC:
- "Well, that's cool," said Laurie to himself, "to have a picnic and never ask me!"
- 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “V. Hester at her Needle”, in The Scarlet Letter[1]:
- Its cool stare of familiarity was intolerable.
- Applied facetiously to a sum of money, commonly as if to give emphasis to the largeness of the amount.
- 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:
- Who will lend me a cool hundred.
- 1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter XVIII, in Great Expectations […], volume III, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 303:
- But she had wrote out a little coddleshell in her own hand a day or two afore the accident, leaving a cool four thousand to Mr. Matthew Pocket.
- 1900, Dora Sigerson Shorter, Transmigration
- You remember Bulger, don't you? You lost a cool hundred to him one night here over the cards, eh?
- 1944 November 28, Irving Brecher and Fred F. Finklehoffe, Meet Me in St. Louis, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer:
- My father was talking to the World's Fair Commission yesterday, and they estimate it's going to cost a cool fifty million.
- (informal, of a person) Knowing what to do and how to behave; behaving with effortless and enviable style and panache; considered popular by others.
- 2017 December 27, “The Guardian view on Prince Harry: the monarchy’s best insurance policy”, in the Guardian[2]:
- He managed to conduct interviews with the least cool global figure – his father, Prince Charles – and the most cool, Barack Obama, in a way that allowed them both to look as good as they could.
- (informal, originally African-American Vernacular) Fashionable; trendy and hip.
- Synonyms: à la mode, fashionable, in fashion, modish, stylish, happening, hip, in, trendy
- Antonyms: démodé, old hat, out, out of fashion
- 2008, Lou Schuler, "Foreward", in Nate Green, Built for Show, page xii
- The fact that I was middle-aged, bald, married, and raising girls instead of chasing them didn't really bother me. Muscles are cool at any age.
- (informal) All right; acceptable.
- Synonyms: acceptable, all right, OK
- Antonyms: (UK) not cricket, not on, unacceptable
- Is it cool if I sleep here tonight?
- 1962, “Monster Mash”, Bobby "Boris" Pickett and Lenny Capizzi (lyrics), performed by Bobby (Boris) Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers:
- Now everything's cool, Drac's a part of the band
And my Monster Mash is the hit of the land
For you, the living, this Mash was meant too
When you get to my door, tell them Boris sent you.
- (informal) Very interesting or exciting.
- (informal) (followed by with) Able to tolerate; to be fine with.
- (informal) (of a pair of people) Having good relations.
- We're cool, right?
Derived terms
- be cool
- before it was cool
- blow one's cool
- coola boola
- cool and the gang
- cool arrow
- cool art
- cool as a cucumber
- cool bag
- cool beans
- coolbox
- cool box
- cool cat
- cool center
- cool chain
- cool change
- coolchest
- coolen
- cool flame
- cool gray
- cool grey
- cool hand
- cool head
- cool-headed
- cool-headedness
- cool heads must prevail
- cool heads prevail
- cool heads will prevail
- cool hunter
- coolish
- cool jazz
- cool kid
- coolly
- cool medium
- coolness
- cool-o-meter
- cool pop
- cool pose
- coolroom
- cool store
- cool story bro
- cool tankard
- coolth
- ice cool
- ice-cool
- keep a cool head
- keep one's cool
- lose one's cool
- too cool for school
- uncool
- ur-cool
- zero-cool
Descendants
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Noun
cool (uncountable)
- A moderate or refreshing state of cold; moderate temperature of the air between hot and cold; coolness.
- in the cool of the morning
- A calm temperament.
- The property of being cool, popular or in fashion.
Translations
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Etymology 2
From Middle English colen, from Old English cōlian (“to cool, grow cold, be cold”), from Proto-West Germanic *kōlēn (“to become cold”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to freeze”).
Cognate with Dutch koelen (“to cool”), German kühlen (“to cool”), Swedish kyla (“to cool, refrigerate”). Also partially from Middle English kelen, from Old English cēlan (“to cool, be cold, become cold”), from Proto-West Germanic *kōlijan, from Proto-Germanic *kōlijaną (“to cool”), altered to resemble the adjective cool. See keel.
Verb
cool (third-person singular simple present cools, present participle cooling, simple past and past participle cooled)
- (intransitive, literally) To lose heat, to get colder.
- (transitive, literally) To make cooler, less warm.
- Synonyms: chill, cool down, refrigerate; deheat (rare)
- Antonyms: warm, warm up, heat, heat up
- Hyponym: freeze
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 16:24:
- Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue.
- (intransitive, figuratively) To become less intense, e.g. less amicable or passionate.
- Relations cooled between the USA and the USSR after 1980.
- (transitive, figuratively) To make less intense, e.g. less amicable or passionate.
- c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
- We have reason to cool our raging motions, our carnal stings, our unbitted lusts.
- (transitive, slang, dated) To kill, murder.
- 1965, "Sex Jungle" (narrated in Perversion for Profit)
- Maybe he would die. That would mean I had murdered him. I smiled, trying the idea on for size. One of the things that always had cheesed me a little was that I had no kills to my credit. I'd been in plenty of rumbles, but somehow, I'd never cooled anyone. Well maybe now I had my first one. I couldn't feel very proud of skulling an old man, but at least I could say that I'd scored. That was a big kick.
- 1967, Piri Thomas, Down These Mean Streets, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, page 31:
- Big-mouth got up as fast as he could, and I was thinking how much heart he had. But I ran toward him like my life depended on it; I wanted to cool him.
- 1965, "Sex Jungle" (narrated in Perversion for Profit)
- (intransitive, African-American Vernacular, slang) To relax, hang out.
- Synonym: bool (slang)
- 1986, “6 in the Mornin'”[3]performed by Ice-T:
- Seen my homeboys coolin' way way out / Told 'em bout my mornin' cold bugged' em out
- 2000, Paul Beatty, Tuff: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Anchor Books, published 2001, →ISBN, page 223:
- "What up, kid?" ¶ "Coolin'."
- '1997, Courttia Newland, The Scholar: A West Side Story, London: Abacus, →ISBN, page 207:
- Asbestos? Raa, dat's a dangerous t'ing boy, dat ain't good. You know what though, you guys should min' yourselves walkin' street star, dere's bere nutters about. I know you're in a crew but boy can't you jus' cool at someone's house?'
Derived terms
Translations
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References
- “cool v.2”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present
- “cool v.3”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present
- “cool”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “cool”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from English cool. Doublet of koel.
Pronunciation
Adjective
cool (comparative cooler, superlative coolst)
- cool, fashionable
Declension
Declension of cool | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
uninflected | cool | |||
inflected | coole | |||
comparative | cooler | |||
positive | comparative | superlative | ||
predicative/adverbial | cool | cooler | het coolst het coolste | |
indefinite | m./f. sing. | coole | coolere | coolste |
n. sing. | cool | cooler | coolste | |
plural | coole | coolere | coolste | |
definite | coole | coolere | coolste | |
partitive | cools | coolers | — |
Derived terms
French
Etymology
Pronunciation
Adjective
cool (invariable)
- cool (only its informal senses, mainly fashionable)
- Les jeunes sont cool.
- Young people are cool.
- Les jeunes boivent de l’alcool pour être cool.
- Young people drink alcohol to be cool.
Interjection
cool
- cool! great!
Derived terms
Anagrams
German
Etymology
Borrowed from English cool. Doublet of kühl.
Pronunciation
Adjective
cool (strong nominative masculine singular cooler, comparative cooler, superlative am coolsten)
- (colloquial) cool (in its informal senses)
- 1982, “Der Kommissar”, in Einzelhaft, performed by Falco:
- Wir treffen Jill und Joe und dessen Bruder Hip / Und auch den Rest der coolen Gang
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- (colloquial) cool, calm, easy-going
Declension
number & gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | |||
predicative | er ist cool | sie ist cool | es ist cool | sie sind cool | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | cooler | coole | cooles | coole |
genitive | coolen | cooler | coolen | cooler | |
dative | coolem | cooler | coolem | coolen | |
accusative | coolen | coole | cooles | coole | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der coole | die coole | das coole | die coolen |
genitive | des coolen | der coolen | des coolen | der coolen | |
dative | dem coolen | der coolen | dem coolen | den coolen | |
accusative | den coolen | die coole | das coole | die coolen | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein cooler | eine coole | ein cooles | (keine) coolen |
genitive | eines coolen | einer coolen | eines coolen | (keiner) coolen | |
dative | einem coolen | einer coolen | einem coolen | (keinen) coolen | |
accusative | einen coolen | eine coole | ein cooles | (keine) coolen |
number & gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | |||
predicative | er ist cooler | sie ist cooler | es ist cooler | sie sind cooler | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | coolerer | coolere | cooleres | coolere |
genitive | cooleren | coolerer | cooleren | coolerer | |
dative | coolerem | coolerer | coolerem | cooleren | |
accusative | cooleren | coolere | cooleres | coolere | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der coolere | die coolere | das coolere | die cooleren |
genitive | des cooleren | der cooleren | des cooleren | der cooleren | |
dative | dem cooleren | der cooleren | dem cooleren | den cooleren | |
accusative | den cooleren | die coolere | das coolere | die cooleren | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein coolerer | eine coolere | ein cooleres | (keine) cooleren |
genitive | eines cooleren | einer cooleren | eines cooleren | (keiner) cooleren | |
dative | einem cooleren | einer cooleren | einem cooleren | (keinen) cooleren | |
accusative | einen cooleren | eine coolere | ein cooleres | (keine) cooleren |
number & gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | |||
predicative | er ist am coolsten | sie ist am coolsten | es ist am coolsten | sie sind am coolsten | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | coolster | coolste | coolstes | coolste |
genitive | coolsten | coolster | coolsten | coolster | |
dative | coolstem | coolster | coolstem | coolsten | |
accusative | coolsten | coolste | coolstes | coolste | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der coolste | die coolste | das coolste | die coolsten |
genitive | des coolsten | der coolsten | des coolsten | der coolsten | |
dative | dem coolsten | der coolsten | dem coolsten | den coolsten | |
accusative | den coolsten | die coolste | das coolste | die coolsten | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein coolster | eine coolste | ein coolstes | (keine) coolsten |
genitive | eines coolsten | einer coolsten | eines coolsten | (keiner) coolsten | |
dative | einem coolsten | einer coolsten | einem coolsten | (keinen) coolsten | |
accusative | einen coolsten | eine coolste | ein coolstes | (keine) coolsten |
Further reading
Polish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English cool.
Pronunciation
Adjective
cool (not comparable, no derived adverb)
Further reading
Romanian
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English cool.
Adjective
cool m or f or n (indeclinable)
Declension
singular | plural | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | ||
nominative/ accusative |
indefinite | cool | cool | cool | cool | ||
definite | — | — | — | — | |||
genitive/ dative |
indefinite | cool | cool | cool | cool | ||
definite | — | — | — | — |
Adverb
cool
Noun
cool n (uncountable)
Declension
Spanish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English cool.
Pronunciation
Adjective
cool m or f (masculine and feminine plural cools or cool)
- cool (in its informal sense)
Usage notes
According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.
Anagrams
Swedish
Etymology
Borrowed from English cool. Attested since 1951.
Pronunciation
Adjective
cool (comparative coolare, superlative coolast)
- (colloquial) cool (calm, collected)
- Träskmonstret röt åt honom, men han var helt cool
- The swamp monster roared at him, but he was completely cool
- (colloquial) cool (appealing (in a calm, controlled way))
- en cool snubbe med coola solglasögon
- a cool guy with cool sunglasses
- Han tyckte rymden var cool
- He thought space was cool
Declension
Inflection of cool | |||
---|---|---|---|
Indefinite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative2 |
Common singular | cool | coolare | coolast |
Neuter singular | coolt | coolare | coolast |
Plural | coola | coolare | coolast |
Masculine plural3 | coole | coolare | coolast |
Definite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
Masculine singular1 | coole | coolare | coolaste |
All | coola | coolare | coolaste |
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. 3) Dated or archaic |
See also
References
Turkish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English cool
Pronunciation
Adjective
cool
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/uːl
- Rhymes:English/uːl/1 syllable
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *gel-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English informal terms
- African-American Vernacular English
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English slang
- English dated terms
- en:Emotions
- en:Temperature
- Dutch terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Dutch terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *gel-
- Dutch terms borrowed from English
- Dutch terms derived from English
- Dutch doublets
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Dutch terms with audio links
- Rhymes:Dutch/ul
- Dutch terms with homophones
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch adjectives
- French terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- French terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *gel-
- French terms borrowed from English
- French terms derived from English
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- Rhymes:French/ul
- French terms with homophones
- French lemmas
- French adjectives
- French terms with usage examples
- French interjections
- German terms derived from Old English
- German terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- German terms borrowed from English
- German terms derived from English
- German doublets
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- German lemmas
- German adjectives
- German colloquialisms
- German terms with usage examples
- German terms with quotations
- Polish terms derived from Middle English
- Polish terms derived from Old English
- Polish terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Polish terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Polish terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Polish terms borrowed from English
- Polish unadapted borrowings from English
- Polish terms derived from English
- Polish 1-syllable words
- Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Polish terms with audio links
- Rhymes:Polish/ul
- Rhymes:Polish/ul/1 syllable
- Polish lemmas
- Polish adjectives
- Polish uncomparable adjectives
- Polish slang
- Romanian terms borrowed from English
- Romanian unadapted borrowings from English
- Romanian terms derived from English
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian adjectives
- Romanian indeclinable adjectives
- Romanian adverbs
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian uncountable nouns
- Romanian neuter nouns
- Spanish terms borrowed from English
- Spanish unadapted borrowings from English
- Spanish terms derived from English
- Spanish 1-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Spanish/ul
- Rhymes:Spanish/ul/1 syllable
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish adjectives
- Spanish epicene adjectives
- Swedish terms borrowed from English
- Swedish terms derived from English
- Swedish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish adjectives
- Swedish colloquialisms
- Swedish terms with usage examples
- Turkish terms borrowed from English
- Turkish unadapted borrowings from English
- Turkish terms derived from English
- Turkish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Turkish lemmas
- Turkish adjectives