How to Use aloof in a Sentence

aloof

adjective
  • They tried to keep aloof from the politics of the day.
  • The agog kept being met by the aloof.
    — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Tired of trying to come off cool and aloof on dates?
    — Charles Trepany, USA Today, 29 June 2026
  • Tug was friendly but aloof, and didn't stay in touch with Tim.
    — Rob Tannenbaum, Billboard, 9 Nov. 2017
  • Zardari, though aloof in public, is known as a shrewd politician.
    — Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2018
  • The president’s bows were aloof and stiff.
    — Jake Lundberg, The Atlantic, 7 Jan. 2026
  • Cats can sometimes get a bad rap for being aloof or not emotive.
    — Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Nov. 2023
  • Then my character would be more aloof and unaware of her pain.
    — Alexis Soloski, New York Times, 4 Nov. 2022
  • In the court transcript Ricky comes across as more aloof than angry.
    — Alex Prewitt, SI.com, 19 Sep. 2019
  • Enid-as-Wednesday struggles to stay cool and aloof.
    — Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2025
  • In fact, many of us see leaders as cold, aloof or emotionless.
    — Karina Michel Feld, Rolling Stone, 15 Aug. 2022
  • Then there were the huge, wide windows, which didn’t gaze over the river from some aloof height.
    — Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 10 Nov. 2023
  • Her mother seemed aloof, once leaving the children for a week.
    — sun-sentinel.com, 17 May 2021
  • What non-cat owners may see as aloof, many cat lovers value as restraint.
    — Dallas News, 13 Dec. 2022
  • The man was aloof and somewhat resistant.
    — Literary Hub, 17 Nov. 2025
  • But Liz stayed silent and aloof — even when Angela was less than an inch from her face.
    — Kelly Wynne, Peoplemag, 29 Aug. 2023
  • That doesn’t mean Cohen was aloof or took success for granted.
    — Bloomberg Wire, Dallas News, 27 Apr. 2021
  • The bride is standing in the background, seemingly aloof with a smile on her face.
    — Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 25 Apr. 2022
  • Durant is more aloof, not the magnet for post-game comments that Barkley was.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 1 Mar. 2023
  • Farmiga plays Cameron's aloof mother.
    — Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 16 Dec. 2025
  • The prospect of approaching this aloof duo was somewhat daunting.
    — Simon Callow, The New York Review of Books, 1 Dec. 2022
  • He has been perceived as cruel, romantic, kind and aloof.
    — Lisa Stardust, PEOPLE, 23 Nov. 2025
  • Again, a silence fell between them, neither awkward nor aloof.
    — Literary Hub, 22 Jan. 2026
  • The crew blew by, aloof, but the captain stopped at the desk to address the gate agent, a tiny middle-aged brunette.
    — Lisa Wells, Harper's magazine, 10 Apr. 2019
  • Was the professional but aloof father that Roy knew just a façade?
    — David Sims, The Atlantic, 18 Sep. 2019
  • Druig is aloof and a bit of a loner, but in real life, Keoghan quickly hit it off with his costars.
    — Devan Coggan, EW.com, 18 Aug. 2021
  • The common view that domestic cats are aloof loners couldn’t be further from the truth.
    — Jonathan Losos, Discover Magazine, 10 Aug. 2023
  • That’s on top of her other worries, not the least of which is her seemingly disturbed, aloof young son.
    — Matt Cabral, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Apr. 2026
  • Frances Perkins was, by temperament, cool and aloof, even a bit boring.
    — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 4 July 2026
  • On the surface, Babyface Ray’s rhymes sound aloof — cold and distant.
    — Stephanie Williams, Washington Post, 1 June 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'aloof.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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