# aloof

> English word · Adverb · IPA /əˈluːf/ · frequency rank #29,158

## Definitions
1. At or from a distance, but within view, or at a small distance; apart; away.
2. Without sympathy; unfavorably.

## Etymology
From Middle English loof (“weather gage, windward direction”), probably from Middle Dutch (Compare Dutch loef (“the weather side of a ship”)), originally a nautical order to keep the ship's head to the wind, thus to stay clear of a lee-shore or some other quarter, hence the figurative sense of "at a distance, apart".

## Easily confused with
- **also** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/aloof-vs-also)
- **alot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/aloof-vs-alot)
- **alto** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/aloof-vs-alto)
- **aloud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/aloof-vs-aloud)
- **Alton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/aloof-vs-alton)
- **alf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alf-vs-aloof)
- **Aldo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/aldo-vs-aloof)
- **aloe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/aloe-vs-aloof)
- **allo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/allo-vs-aloof)
- **Alon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alon-vs-aloof)
- **algo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/algo-vs-aloof)
- **along** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/along-vs-aloof)
- **alone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alone-vs-aloof)
- **allow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/allow-vs-aloof)
- **alloy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/alloy-vs-aloof)
- **Adolf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/adolf-vs-aloof)
- **aloha** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/aloha-vs-aloof)
- **aloft** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/aloft-vs-aloof)
- **afoot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/afoot-vs-aloof)
- **allot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/allot-vs-aloof)

## Common misspellings (6)
`alloof`, `alof`, `alofo`, `alooff`, `aolof`, `laoof`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/aloof