collected
Americanadjective
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having control of one's faculties; self-possessed.
Despite all the turmoil around him, Bob remained calm and collected.
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brought or placed together; forming an aggregation from various sources.
the money collected to build an orphanage; the collected essays of Thoreau.
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Manège.
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(of a moving horse) noting a compact pose in which the legs are well under the body, the head is arched at the poll, the jaw is relaxed, etc.
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(of a gait of such a horse) characterized by short, elevated strides.
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adjective
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in full control of one's faculties; composed
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assembled in totality or brought together into one volume or a set of volumes
the collected works of Dickens
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(of a horse or a horse's pace) controlled so that movement is in short restricted steps
a collected canter
Synonym Usage
See calm.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of collected
Explanation
Use the adjective collected to describe a person who stays cool and calm, even under pressure. There are certain people who always seem completely self-possessed and unflappable no matter what is going on around them. You can describe these people as collected. If a kid throws up on the school bus and the driver is unruffled, he is collected. A confident, poised trapeze artist is also collected. If you're upset, you might say, "I need to collect myself," and once you have calmed yourself, you are collected.
Vocabulary lists containing collected
Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet
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Black Brother, Black Brother
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Lesson 17
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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.
Police said the scene was still active Saturday afternoon as investigators collected evidence and conducted a preliminary investigation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
That’s according to new analysis and data collected by researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026
If the data were collected at different times, for example, some of the information -- especially on a fluid process like gaining US citizenship -- could be out-of-date, he explained.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
It represented about 60% of all tariff revenue collected by the government under the policy, with significant amounts still to be repaid.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
Without a word, Jeff collected his stuff and got up from his desk.
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
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.
