composure
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of composure
Explanation
When you stay calm under pressure, you keep your composure. Keeping your composure for a skinned knee? Easy. Keeping your composure during an avalanche? Not so easy. The word composure is from the related word composed, but don't think of the word in the musical sense. In this case, composed means calm. What's the difference between the two? Well, composed is an adjective, so you simply are composed. Composure, on the other hand, is a noun, so you can lose, keep, regain, or maintain your composure — your ability to stay calm. If you lose your composure, you're freaking out.
Vocabulary lists containing composure
Metamorphosis
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The Things They Carried
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Inside Out & Back Again
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Exequiel Palacios: Tried to bring some composure to Ipswich Town's game but was fighting a losing battle.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
However, the Scot kept her composure in her home city to replicate her initial success, break the record again, and reclaim the gold that was already hers - in mind if not around her neck.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
On one level, watching Collins navigate these attacks offers a masterclass in professional composure.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2026
Amid rows of camp beds and stacks of food supplies at a makeshift shelter in Bordeaux, thousands of tourists and locals try to regain their composure after fleeing wildfires sweeping through southwest France.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
I am afraid that if I do, I will lose my composure, too.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
