Cool is a word with many meanings

Recent Examples on the Web

The video of Spot digging was pretty cool—how did that work?


—IEEE Spectrum, 15 Feb. 2023




Ric Owens of Roberts Design gave the hotel interiors a cool, yet approachable feel with neoclassical French flare.


—Medgina Saint-elien, House Beautiful, 13 Feb. 2023




Not in a bad way, but in a good, strange, really cool way.


—The Indianapolis Star, 13 Feb. 2023




Both teed off in the morning wave when the wind wreaked havoc on performances, but both kept their cool.


—Jenna Ortiz, The Arizona Republic, 10 Feb. 2023




Faison got so giddy meeting Travolta, that Braff had to remind him to keep his cool.


—Lanae Brody, Peoplemag, 9 Feb. 2023




Yet when the lights shine brightest, Houston too often loses its cool.


—Michael Shapiro, Chron, 9 Feb. 2023




Some wineries are experimenting with shallow water aging, but most are looking to recreate the conditions of the wrecks that whet the industry’s interest: consistently cool, dark, and deep.


—Popular Mechanics, 8 Feb. 2023




But to have made these records 30 years ago and not be embarrassed, that’s a pretty cool thing.


—Josh Chesler, SPIN, 3 Feb. 2023

One report from the Institute for Supply Management said that growth in the U.S. services sector slowed last month by more than economists expected, as the pace of new orders cooled.


—Yuri Kageyama, ajc, 6 Apr. 2023




Arguably the best time to visit, however, is fall, when temperatures have just started to cool and the air is crisp yet still warm enough for a light jacket.


—Jessica Poitevien, Travel + Leisure, 6 Apr. 2023




So the conveyor belt takes a 161-foot route to the packaging area to give them a chance to cool.


—Kevin Dupzyk Christopher Payne, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2023




Over the past year, the Fed has raised interest rates from nearly zero to a range of 4.75% to 5% to cool the economy.


—Nicole Goodkind, CNN, 6 Apr. 2023




The energy audit might indicate a need to replace heating and cooling systems, seal ducts, install water-saving features and upgrade thermostats to programmable models that can help people monitor their energy use.


—The Arizona Republic, 5 Apr. 2023




Remove and allow to cool to room temperature.


—Tori Latham, Robb Report, 5 Apr. 2023




As the Timberwolves cooled, the Lakers offense started to operate more effectively, the team getting to the basket, hitting open threes and getting to the line.


—Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2023




Meanwhile, administrators and the civil rights groups say the school system is still inappropriately funded to maintain its buildings, which are among the oldest in the state and frequently close to students due to lack of heating and cooling throughout the year.


—Lillian Reed, Baltimore Sun, 31 Mar. 2023

But rather than trying to fully recreate the Banks patriarch’s magnetism, the Canadian actor took certain aspects from the iconic portrayal and fused them with a new-school cool inspired by none other than former POTUS Barack Obama.


—Ineye Komonibo, refinery29.com, 7 Apr. 2023




But that front will definitely bring a significant cool-down for the rest of the week.


—Kxas-tv (nbc5), Dallas News, 3 Apr. 2023




Around Washington, a cool-down in mid-March is far from a guarantee of snow, or even really cold weather.


—Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2023




However, this recent cool-down could be deceiving.


—Sam Burdette, The Arizona Republic, 29 July 2022




Anxiety on the UConn bench built in the fourth quarter as Ohio State players tried to keep their cool.


—The New York Times, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2023




Keep in touch, keep inviting, keep your cool.


—Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 7 Mar. 2023




Mistake #6: Not Including Warm-Ups & Cool Downs A common denominator among world-class athletes and those who enjoy a career of consistent and healthy training is a systematic, patient, and deliberate warm-up (and cool-down) routine.


—Chris Johnson, Outside Online, 10 Feb. 2023




Overland’s lambskin jacket will keep you warm (without losing your cool).


—Brad Lanphear, Men’s Health, 6 Jan. 2023

The Ford Bronco can scratch almost anyone’s itch for a cool-looking SUV with mega off-road capability without sacrificing good paved-road behavior in the process.


—Car and Driver, 22 Feb. 2023




Some cool-looking shots.


—Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 18 Jan. 2023




Asus Asus Republic of Gamers (ROG) has unveiled its varied, eclectic, and very cool-looking lineup of new gaming laptops for 2021.


—Monica Chin, The Verge, 12 Jan. 2021




The Peloton Bike+ is a cool-looking machine with a matte black finish and red accents.


—Corey Gaskin, Ars Technica, 12 Feb. 2023




Today, the Sun had two relatively minor — but quite cool-looking — events.


—Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, 24 Mar. 2012




But while the script (co-written by Eisener and John Davies) is weak, there is an endearingly scruffy vibe here, goosed by some cool-looking costumes and effects.


—Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times, 20 Jan. 2023




The bodyweight-only moves on this list are great additions to any dynamic warm-up or cool-down, too.


—Amy Marturana Winderl, SELF, 25 Jan. 2022




Now, add something new and kind of cool-sounding, scheduled to open October 1: an interactive exhibit inspired by … cannabis.


—Joan Oleck, Forbes, 17 Sep. 2021


See More

English

Alternative forms

• (slang) c00l, coo, k00l, kewl, kool, qewl, qool

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: ko͞ol, IPA^(key): /kuːl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /kul/
• Rhymes: -uːl

Etymology 1

From Middle English cool, from Old English cōl (“cool, cold, tranquil, calm”), from Proto-West Germanic *kōl(ī), from Proto-Germanic *kōlaz, *kōluz (“cool”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“cold”).

Cognate with Saterland Frisian köil (“cool”), West Frisian koel (“cool”), Dutch koel (“cool”), Limburgish kool (“cool”), German Low German köhl (“cool”), German kühl (“cool”). Related to cold.

Adjective

cool (comparative cooler, superlative coolest)

2. Having a slightly low temperature; mildly or pleasantly cold.

   Synonym: chilly

   Antonyms: lukewarm, tepid, warm

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     The day was cool and snappy for August, and the Rise all green with a lavish nature. Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams, the boards giving back the clatter of our horses’ feet: […] .

3. Allowing or suggesting heat relief.

   Linen has made cool and breathable clothing for millennia.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 2, in The China Governess‎^[1]:

     Now that she had rested and had fed from the luncheon tray Mrs. Broome had just removed, she had reverted to her normal gaiety.  She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.

4. Of a color, in the range of violet to green.

   Antonym: warm

   If you have a reddish complexion, you should mainly wear cool colors.

5. Of a person, not showing emotion; calm and in control of oneself.

   Synonyms: distant, phlegmatic, standoffish, unemotional

   Antonym: passionate

6. Unenthusiastic, lukewarm, skeptical.

   Antonym: warm

   His proposals had a cool reception.

7. Calmly audacious.

   In control as always, he came up with a cool plan.
8. Applied facetiously to a sum of money, commonly as if to give emphasis to the largeness of the amount.

   • Who will lend me a cool hundred.

   • 1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter XVIII, in Great Expectations […], volume III, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 303:

     But she had wrote out a little coddleshell in her own hand a day or two afore the accident, leaving a cool four thousand to Mr. Matthew Pocket.

   • 1900, Dora Sigerson Shorter, Transmigration

     You remember Bulger, don’t you? You lost a cool hundred to him one night here over the cards, eh?

   • 1944 November 28, Irving Brecher and Fred F. Finklehoffe, Meet Me in St. Louis, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer:

     My father was talking to the World’s Fair Commission yesterday, and they estimate it’s going to cost a cool fifty million.

9. (informal) Of a person, knowing what to do and how to behave; considered popular by others.

   Antonyms: awkward, uncool

   • 2017 December 27, “The Guardian view on Prince Harry: the monarchy’s best insurance policy”, in the Guardian‎^[3]:

     He managed to conduct interviews with the least cool global figure – his father, Prince Charles – and the most cool, Barack Obama, in a way that allowed them both to look as good as they could.

10. (informal) In fashion and fancy, part of or befitting the most leading trends and habits of the in crowd; originally hipster slang.

    Synonyms: à la mode, fashionable, in fashion, modish, stylish, happening, hip, in, trendy

    Antonyms: démodé, old hat, out, out of fashion

    • 2008, Lou Schuler, «Foreward», in Nate Green, Built for Show, page xii

      The fact that I was middle-aged, bald, married, and raising girls instead of chasing them didn’t really bother me. Muscles are cool at any age.

11. (informal) Of an action, all right; acceptable; that does not present a problem.

    Synonyms: acceptable, all right, OK

    Antonyms: (UK) not cricket, not on, unacceptable

    Is it cool if I sleep here tonight?

12. (informal) Very interesting or exciting.

    I think astronomy is really cool.

    Synonyms: awesome, neat

13. (informal) (followed by with) Able to tolerate; to be fine with.

    I’m completely cool with my girlfriend leaving me.

    Synonyms: easy, fine, not bothered, not fussed

    Antonyms: bothered, upset

14. (informal) (of a pair of people) holding no grudge against one another; having no beef.

    We’re cool, right?

15. (sarcastic) (of an act or situation) annoying, irritating.

    • 1868, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, chapter 13, in Little Women: Or, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, part first, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, published 1869, →OCLC:

      «Well, that’s cool,» said Laurie to himself, «to have a picnic and never ask me!»

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Chinese: 酷 (kù)
• → Dutch: cool
• → French: cool
• → German: cool
• → Polish: cool
• → Spanish: cool
• → Swedish: cool
• → Japanese: クール (kūru)

  ⇒ Japanese: クーデレ (kūdere)

  → English: kuudere

Translations

Noun

cool (uncountable)

1. A moderate or refreshing state of cold; moderate temperature of the air between hot and cold; coolness.

   in the cool of the morning

2. A calm temperament.

   Synonyms: calmness, composure

3. The property of being cool, popular or in fashion.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English colen, from Old English cōlian (“to cool, grow cold, be cold”), from Proto-West Germanic *kōlēn (“to become cold”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to freeze”).

Cognate with Dutch koelen (“to cool”), German kühlen (“to cool”), Swedish kyla (“to cool, refrigerate”). Also partially from Middle English kelen, from Old English cēlan (“to cool, be cold, become cold”), from Proto-West Germanic *kōlijan, from Proto-Germanic *kōlijaną (“to cool”), altered to resemble the adjective cool. See keel.

Verb

cool (third-person singular simple present cools, present participle cooling, simple past and past participle cooled)

1. (intransitive, literally) To lose heat, to get colder.

   I like to let my tea cool before drinking it so I don’t burn my tongue.

2. (transitive, literally) To make cooler, less warm.
3. (intransitive, figuratively) To become less intense, e.g. less amicable or passionate.

   Relations cooled between the USA and the USSR after 1980.

4. (transitive, figuratively) To make less intense, e.g. less amicable or passionate.

   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

     We have reason to cool our raging motions, our carnal stings, our unbitted lusts.

5. (transitive) To kill.
   • 1965, «Sex Jungle» (narrated in Perversion for Profit)

     Maybe he would die. That would mean I had murdered him. I smiled, trying the idea on for size. One of the things that always had cheesed me a little was that I had no kills to my credit. I’d been in plenty of rumbles, but somehow, I’d never cooled anyone. Well maybe now I had my first one. I couldn’t feel very proud of skulling an old man, but at least I could say that I’d scored. That was a big kick.

Derived terms

Translations

References

• “cool”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• cool at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Colo, Colo., colo, colo-, loco

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English cool. Doublet of koel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ku(ː)l/
• Hyphenation: cool
• Rhymes: -ul
• Homophone: koel

Adjective

cool (comparative cooler, superlative coolst)

1. cool, fashionable

Inflection

Inflection of cool
uninflected	cool
inflected	coole
comparative	cooler
	positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial	cool	cooler	het coolst het coolste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	coole	coolere	coolste
n. sing.	cool	cooler	coolste
plural	coole	coolere	coolste
definite	coole	coolere	coolste
partitive	cools	coolers	—

French

Etymology

From English cool.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kul/
• Rhymes: -ul
• Homophones: coule, coules, coulent

Adjective

cool (invariable)

1. cool (only its informal senses, mainly fashionable)

   Les jeunes sont cool.

   Young people are cool.

   Les jeunes boivent de l’alcool pour être cool.

   Young people drink alcohol to be cool.

Interjection

cool

1. cool! great!

Derived terms

• cool, Raoul

Anagrams

• looc

German

Etymology

Borrowed from English cool. Doublet of kühl.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kuːl]

Adjective

cool (strong nominative masculine singular cooler, comparative cooler, superlative am coolsten)

1. (colloquial) cool (in its informal senses)

   Synonyms: brilliant, genial, geil

   Die Musik war echt cool.

   The music was very cool.

   • 1982, “Der Kommissar”, in Einzelhaft, performed by Falco:

     Wir treffen Jill und Joe und dessen Bruder Hip / Und auch den Rest der coolen Gang

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

2. (colloquial) cool, calm, easy-going

   Synonyms: lässig, ruhig

   Als Trainer muss mann ziemlich cool sein.

   As a trainer you have to be quite easy-going.

Declension

Further reading

• “cool” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “cool” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “cool” in Duden online
• “cool” in OpenThesaurus.de

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English cool.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kul/
• Rhymes: -ul
• Syllabification: cool

Adjective

cool (not comparable)

1. (slang) cool (in its informal senses)

   Synonyms: świetny, wspaniały, znakomity

Declension

Indeclinable.

Further reading

• cool in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• cool in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English cool.

Adjective

cool m or f or n (indeclinable)

1. cool

Declension

Adverb

cool

1. cool

Noun

cool n (uncountable)

1. cool

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English cool

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkul/ [ˈkul]
• Rhymes: -ul

Adjective

cool (plural cools or cool)

1. cool (in its informal sense)

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Anagrams

• loco

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English cool.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kuːl/

Adjective

cool (comparative coolare, superlative coolast)

1. cool! great!

Declension

Inflection of cool
Indefinite	Positive	Comparative	Superlative2
Common singular	cool	coolare	coolast
Neuter singular	coolt	coolare	coolast
Plural	coola	coolare	coolast
Masculine plural3	coole	coolare	coolast
Definite	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Masculine singular1	coole	coolare	coolaste
All	coola	coolare	coolaste
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. 3) Dated or archaic

Turkish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English cool

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kuːɫ/
• Hyphenation: kul

Adjective

cool

1. cool