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“aplomb”
1. Imperturbable self-possession, poise, or assurance: Sharon carried herself with the dignity and aplomb of a born leader.
2. Great coolness and composure under stress: Hank's nonchalance and aplomb during hard times has always been his best character trait.
3. Self-confident assurance; poise: Samuel conducted the business meeting with his characteristic aplomb or calmness.
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2. Great coolness and composure under stress: Hank's nonchalance and aplomb during hard times has always been his best character trait.
3. Self-confident assurance; poise: Samuel conducted the business meeting with his characteristic aplomb or calmness.
James was told to use aplomb even when he was under the most difficult pressures to complete his homework for school.
4. Etymology: from French; literally, "perpendicularity", from the phrase à plomb, "poised upright, balanced"; literally, "on the plumb line"; from Latin ad-, "to" + plomb, "lead weight"; and from Latin plumbum, "(the metal) lead"; of which the weight at the end of a line was made.Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
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plumb-, plumbo-, plumbi- +
(page 1)
aplomb, a plum, a plumb
aplomb (uh PLOM, uh PLUM) (pronoun)
Confidence, skill, and poise; especially, in difficult or challenging circumstances: "A good hostess can handle an embarrassing situation with great aplomb."
a plum (uh PLUM) (pronoun)
A round or oval smooth-skinned fruit, usually red or purple, containing a flattened pit: "Gwendolyn gave Kirk a plum to eat which he thought was delicious."
a plumb (uh PLUM) (pronoun)
1. As a noun, a weight, usually made of lead, attached to a line and used to find the depth of water or to verify a true vertical alignment: "Austin used a lead ball, a plumb, attached to a line so he could determine the vertical accuracy of the building's walls."
2. Also, as a verb, to examine something in a careful and complete way in order to understand it: "The book strives to plumb the complexities of human relationships."
2. Also, as a verb, to examine something in a careful and complete way in order to understand it: "The book strives to plumb the complexities of human relationships."
"As a psychologist, Wallace spent several years trying to plumb the minds of criminals."
The surveyors had to improvise when they needed a plumb and used a ripe plum attached to a string as a plumb for surveying the field.
At the end of the day, with great aplomb, one of the surveyors ate the plum.
Word Entries at Get Words:
“aplomb”
Self-confidence, poise, great composure, and self-assurance. (2)
This entry is located in the following unit:
Word a Day Revisited Index of Cartoons Illustrating the Meanings of Words
(page 12)