sangfroid means composure, self-possession or imperturbability especially when in a dangerous situation. It carries an Arena rating of 1981, earned across 133 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, sangfroid ranks #234 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #528 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #978 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #1,305 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
sangfroid is pronounced /sɑŋˈfɹɑ/.
Why “sangfroid” is a great word
SANGFROID — [Noun] A state of composed, icy calmness maintained especially in the face of imminent danger or high-stakes crisis. From the French sang-froid, literally meaning 'cold blood', from sang ("blood") + froid ("cold"). Unlike "aplomb," which suggests a confident poise in social performance, or "equanimity," which denotes a general, philosophical evenness of temper, sangfroid is the deliberate, almost physiological suppression of heat and panic under direct threat. It is the steady hand reloading a pistol in a burning room, the bomb-disposal expert tracing the red wire as the timer blinks toward zero, or the pilot's dispassionate tone reciting a checklist while an engine fails—a willed suspension of the animal urge, creating a profound quiet that exists not in the absence of fear, but in its perfect refrigeration.
Etymology
Borrowed from French sang-froid, from sang (“blood”) + froid (“cold”).
noun
- Composure, self-possession or imperturbability especially when in a dangerous situation.e.g.“He handled the stressful situation with great sangfroid.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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