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.
An attorney for D2 said clients are “entitled to clinicians who are steady and fully available to them, and protecting the composure of that hour is how we protect the people we serve.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Former Lions linebacker Stephen Boyd recalls the composure and calm of Detroit coach Wayne Fontes, after three losses to Pittsburgh, Minnesota and Arizona — two of those by a field goal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
It is the lack of mistakes and increased composure that have stood out to head coach Robert Pedroza in terms of Thomas’ improvement since his freshman and sophomore years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
He might find them, but his team is lacking ideas, conviction, composure, physical and psychological heft, creativity, ruthlessness and stomach for a fight.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
But he kept his composure that day and continued with his diplomatic approach.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
