[əˈluːf], (Adjective)

Definitions:
- not friendly or forthcoming; cool and distant
(e.g: they were courteous but faintly aloof)


Phrases:

Origin:
mid 16th century: from a- (expressing direction) + luff. The term was originally an adverb in nautical use, meaning ‘away and to windward!’, i.e. with the ship's head kept close to the wind away from a lee shore etc. towards which it might drift. From this arose the sense ‘at a distance’