sang-froid
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of sang-froid
1740–50; < French: literally, cold blood
Explanation
If you have sang-froid, you can keep your cool, even under stress. Your feathers aren't easily ruffled. This foreign-sounding word is another way of saying "poise under pressure." We borrowed it from French, where it literally means "cold blood." Great athletes who do well in the last two minutes of a game have sang-froid. James Bond definitely has sang-froid. You better have sang-froid when you're taking the SATs. If you're worried, nervous and starting to crack, you've pretty much lost your sang-froid.
Vocabulary lists containing sang-froid
Foreign Words and Phrases Commonly Used in English, List 3
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The Blind Side
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French Terms Used in English
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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.
Although Piastri is by nature a down-to-earth personality, who lets nothing apparently ruffle his sang-froid, he may have been thinking of this when he summed up his feelings on his third place.
From BBC ● May 18, 2025
To many, her stoicism embodies the British instinct to get on with it, and her sensible manner reflects the sang-froid that many Britons admire.
From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2022
Macron then visits Kyiv and praises the "sang-froid" of Zelenskiy and the Ukrainian people.
From Reuters ● Feb. 21, 2022
Hunsecker, played with slithery sang-froid by Burt Lancaster.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 18, 2021
Grave-robbing became an industry, albeit a small one requiring an exceptional degree of sang-froid.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
