nonchalance

[ non-shuh-lahns, non-shuh-lahns, -luhns ]
See synonyms for nonchalance on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the state or quality of being nonchalant; cool indifference or lack of concern; casualness.

Origin of nonchalance

1
From French, dating back to 1670–80; see origin at nonchalant, -ance

Words Nearby nonchalance

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use nonchalance in a sentence

  • This is not a time to manipulate or skulk into situations sideways, attempting to give a false impression of nonchalance.

    Your Week: What the Stars Hold | Starsky + Cox | September 4, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • The girls teetered in their too-high heels and tittered with excitement, while the boys feigned a cool nonchalance.

  • He was obviously beginning to be afraid; so Eric assumed an air of nonchalance, and played the part of protector.

    Eric, or Little by Little | Frederic W. Farrar
  • It was amusing to see with what good humor and nonchalance the colored people and the soldiers regarded the conflagration.

    The Boys of '61 | Charles Carleton Coffin.
  • Stella's nonchalance alarmed him more and more deeply as he began to look back at his own life and to survey his wasted years.

    Sinister Street, vol. 1 | Compton Mackenzie
  • In professional nonchalance, no man exceeded our vice-admiral.

    The Two Admirals | J. Fenimore Cooper
  • I popped away with great nonchalance, but husbanding my ammunition and popping only a single cracker at a time.