Meaning & use
nonchalant
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Meaning
adjectivecomparable
Calm and seemingly unbothered, acting as if nothing important or worrying is going on.
Grammar: Often suggests the calm is shown on purpose: a nonchalant shrug.
Patterns
- be nonchalant about something
He gave a nonchalant shrug when asked about the exam.
She was nonchalant about the risk, even though her friends were worried.
The waiter walked past the broken glass with a nonchalant air.
Word forms
| comparative | more nonchalant |
|---|---|
| superlative | most nonchalant |
Common combinations
- nonchalant attitude
- His nonchalant attitude surprised the coach.
- nonchalant shrug
- She answered with a nonchalant shrug.
- act nonchalant
- Try to act nonchalant when you walk in.
- nonchalant about
- He seemed nonchalant about the deadline.
- look nonchalant
- He tried to look nonchalant while his heart raced.
Synonyms and how they differ
- casual
- Casual is relaxed and can be genuine, while nonchalant often hides real concern.
- blasé
- Blasé suggests being bored because you have seen it all before, which is a stronger form of indifference.
- unconcerned
- Unconcerned just says someone is not worried and does not suggest the careless style of nonchalant.
- cool
- Cool is informal and can be admiring, whereas nonchalant is more neutral and a little formal.
Opposites
Word family
- nonchalantly adverb
- in a relaxed, unconcerned way
- nonchalance noun
- calm indifference
- chaleur noun
- an old French source word for warmth, now rare in English
Commonly confused: nonchalant or nonplussed? nonchalant or indifferent?
nonchalant vs nonplussed
Nonplussed means confused or surprised, though in American English some people use it to mean calm, which is why it is often mixed up with nonchalant.
nonchalant vs indifferent
Indifferent means truly not caring, whereas nonchalant is an outward manner that may hide worry.
Practice
Although his hands were shaking, he gave a ____ smile and told them everything was fine.
Choose one answer.
Nonchalant describes a calm, unbothered manner shown on purpose. Furious, sorrowful and frantic describe visible strong emotion, which contradicts the smile.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “nonchalant”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.