cool
Americanadjective
-
cooler,
comparative
-
coolest
superlative
-
moderately cold; neither warm nor cold.
a rather cool evening.
- Antonyms:
- warm
-
feeling comfortably or moderately cold.
I'm perfectly cool, but open the window if you feel hot.
-
imparting a sensation of moderate coldness or comfortable freedom from heat.
a cool breeze.
- Antonyms:
- warm
-
permitting such a sensation.
a cool dress.
- Antonyms:
- warm
-
not excited; calm; composed; under control.
to remain cool in the face of disaster.
- Synonyms:
- quiet, placid, unruffled, self-possessed, collected
-
not hasty; deliberate.
a cool and calculated action.
-
lacking in interest or enthusiasm.
a cool reply to an invitation.
- Antonyms:
- warm
-
lacking in warmth or cordiality.
a cool reception.
- Antonyms:
- warm
-
calmly audacious or impudent.
a cool lie.
-
aloof or unresponsive; indifferent.
He was cool to her passionate advances.
-
unaffected by emotions; disinterested; dispassionate.
She made a cool appraisal of all the issues in the dispute.
-
Informal. (of a number or sum) without exaggeration or qualification.
a cool million dollars.
-
(of colors) with green, blue, or violet predominating.
-
Slang.
-
great; fine; excellent.
a real cool comic.
-
characterized by great facility; highly skilled or clever.
cool maneuvers on the parallel bars.
-
socially adept.
It's not cool to arrive at a party too early.
-
acceptable; satisfactory; okay.
If you want to stay late, that's cool.
-
adverb
interjection
noun
-
something that is cool; a cool part, place, time, etc..
in the cool of the evening.
-
coolness.
-
calmness; composure; poise.
an executive noted for maintaining her cool under pressure.
verb (used without object)
-
cools,
present (3rd person singular)
-
cooled,
past participle, past
-
cooling
present participle
-
to become cool (sometimes followed by down oroff ).
The soup cooled in five minutes. We cooled off in the mountain stream.
-
to become less ardent, cordial, etc.; become moderate.
verb (used with object)
-
cools,
present (3rd person singular)
-
cooled,
past participle, past
-
cooling
present participle
verb phrase
-
cool off to become calmer or more reasonable.
Wait until he cools off before you talk to him again.
-
cool down. see cooldown.
-
cool out to calm or settle down; relax.
cooling out at the beach.
adjective
-
moderately cold
a cool day
-
comfortably free of heat
a cool room
-
producing a pleasant feeling of coldness
a cool shirt
-
able to conceal emotion; calm
a cool head
-
lacking in enthusiasm, affection, cordiality, etc
a cool welcome
-
calmly audacious or impudent
-
informal (esp of numbers, sums of money, etc) without exaggeration; actual
a cool ten thousand
-
(of a colour) having violet, blue, or green predominating; cold
-
(of jazz) characteristic of the late 1940s and early 1950s, economical and rhythmically relaxed
-
informal sophisticated or elegant, esp in an unruffled way
-
informal excellent; marvellous
adverb
noun
-
coolness
the cool of the evening
-
slang calmness; composure (esp in the phrases keep or lose one's cool )
-
slang unruffled elegance or sophistication
verb
-
to make or become cooler
-
to lessen the intensity of (anger or excitement) or (of anger or excitement) to become less intense; calm down
-
slang (usually imperative) to calm down; take it easy
-
to wait or be kept waiting
Synonym Usage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
coolingnessnoun
-
coolnessnoun
-
overcoolnessnoun
-
recoolverb
-
subcoolverb (used with object)
-
coolishadjective
-
overcooladjective
-
ultracooladjective
-
uncooledadjective
-
well-cooledadjective
-
coolinglyadverb
-
coollyadverb
-
overcoollyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
coolsimple
-
coolssimple
-
have cooledperfect
-
has cooledperfect
-
am coolingprogressive
-
are coolingprogressive
-
is coolingprogressive
-
have been coolingperfect progressive
-
has been coolingperfect progressive
Past
-
cooledsimple
-
had cooledperfect
-
was coolingprogressive
-
were coolingprogressive
-
had been coolingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cool
First recorded before 1000; Middle English col, coul, Old English cลl; cognate with Middle Low German kลl, Old High German kuoli, German kรผhl; see cold, chill
Explanation
When the weather is cool, it's not quite cold but not warm either. When people are cool, they're mellow and in control. Cool has many meanings. When the weather goes from 70 degrees to 50, it cooled off. A winning pool player who starts losing also cools off. Drinking lemonade on a hot day is yet another way to cool off. When you lose your temper, you lose your cool. Hot cookies should cool before you eat them. Something fashionable is cool, but if you're cool to an idea, you're not so sure about it. Any situation that becomes less intense has cooled.
Vocabulary lists containing cool
Words for Cheese Writers
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Visual Arts - Introductory
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Visual Arts - High School
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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.
See Examples For:
On worries over higher Treasury bond yields, closely monitored as a proxy for interest rates, the official said interest costs are expected to cool as inflation eases over time.
From Barron's โ Aug. 31, 2026
He never needed it thanks to the mild summer climate, with its cool evenings and occasional rain showers.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Aug. 31, 2026
"To come from behind and be able to win tournament is a really cool feeling," Scheffler said.
From BBC โ Aug. 30, 2026
Roman then opened its array of solar panels and sunshades, which power the craft and keep its sensitive instruments cool.
From Los Angeles Times โ Aug. 30, 2026
In some ways it was pretty cool, but in others it really stunk.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
Many wealthy southern Europeans are getting ahead of the changes by moving to cooler locations such as the higher-altitude landscapes in northern Spain.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Aug. 31, 2026
Overall, the late August bank holiday weekend looks set to be cooler, windier and wetter than the hot and dry conditions we've experienced for much of this record-breaking summer.
From BBC โ Aug. 28, 2026
“Even if it’s a couple degrees cooler ... with the humidity, it’s really going to be pretty sticky and uncomfortable,” Ciliberti said.
From Los Angeles Times โ Aug. 27, 2026
By August 19, France had experienced 52 days under heatwave conditions since mid-June, with only a handful of cooler days to break them up -- a record-breaking figure with summer not even over yet.
From Barron's โ Aug. 25, 2026
An ice-filled cooler contains sodas and bottled lemonades.
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
Sometimes the managers who have your back, more than the ones who are fun to hang out with, are the coolest bosses.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Aug. 28, 2026
Among the more popular indicators monitored by Wall Street’s technical strategists, the “Hindenburg Omen” definitely has the coolest name.
From MarketWatch โ Aug. 15, 2026
This might well be the hottest summer of your lifetime, and also might be the coolest summer of the rest of your life.
From Salon โ Jul. 19, 2026
"The coolest thing about opening a GTA game case is the unboxing/opening experience," he posted, external.
From BBC โ Jun. 26, 2026
Maribel is the coolest seventeen-year-old I know, be cause Auntie let her get a teeny-tiny diamond nose ring—and she can drive.
From "The House That Lou Built" by Mae Respicio
In a recent press briefing, Warsh said the Fed cannot use a "magic wand" to undo years of above-target inflation and must stay patient as price growth cools gradually.
From BBC โ Aug. 12, 2026
Brazil’s central bank cut interest rates for the fourth consecutive time as inflation cools and still-elevated borrowing costs weigh on the economy.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Aug. 5, 2026
"I have a daughter -- we don't go outside until it cools down a bit, because the current temperatures are unbearable," she said.
From Barron's โ Jul. 31, 2026
Volcanic glass forms when underwater lava cools extremely quickly.
From Science Daily โ Jul. 29, 2026
The air quickly cools to the outdoor temperature, which ranges from -150°C to 0°C. When it's warm, additional refrigeration is used, but cold days can turn air to liquid for free.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
The team cooled the liquid inside the fibers with nitrogen at -196 °C, causing the material in the core to change from a liquid into a solid.
From Science Daily โ Aug. 22, 2026
Despite high prices, consumer demand for beef hasn’t cooled.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Aug. 21, 2026
“We want you to become slightly more cautious because positive EPS estimate revision momentum has cooled somewhat,” Nick Raich of the Earnings Scout wrote in a recent research note.
From MarketWatch โ Aug. 19, 2026
Headline inflation cooled to 15.4 percent in July.
From Barron's โ Aug. 19, 2026
We finally finished the day in the late afternoon, before the sun started to set, and the air cooled enough to carry a slight chill.
From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce
Perello also cited Dove’s on-site activation, which he said helps eventgoers feel put together despite the seasonal heat, with product touch-ups and cooling stations.
From The Wall Street Journal โ Aug. 31, 2026
“It’s the overnight lows not cooling off like they should and not giving us a reprieve from the heat in the daytime that are driving heat impacts across Southern California right now.”
From Los Angeles Times โ Aug. 28, 2026
The heatwaves that hit Europe sent temperatures soaring in the Aare River, which the site uses for cooling.
From Barron's โ Aug. 28, 2026
Data centers, often massive, require equipment for heating and cooling, ventilation, and water supply.
From MarketWatch โ Aug. 28, 2026
The tears run hot down my cheeks, cooling as they drip down my chin.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, ยฉ Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritageยฎ Idioms Dictionary copyright ยฉ 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
