Cool

/kuːl/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang

adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: A moderate or refreshing state of cold; moderate temperature of the air between hot and cold; coolness.
  • Grammar: cool is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
  • Nearest alternatives: poise, abate, abnegation, above all that.
  • Useful contrasts: close, familiar, quick-tempered.
  • Usage evidence: I don't want to be lame; I want to be cool!!

How to use "cool"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "cool" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "cool" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "cool" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "cool" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "cool" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "poise" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "cool", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

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

    "in the cool of the morning"

  2. 2
    great coolness and composure under strain wordnet
  3. 3
    A calm temperament. uncountable
  4. 4
    the quality of being at a refreshingly low temperature wordnet
  5. 5
    The property of being cool, popular or in fashion. uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To lose heat, to get colder. intransitive, literally

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

  2. 2
    loose heat wordnet
  3. 3
    To make cooler, less warm. literally, transitive

    "Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue."

  4. 4
    lose intensity wordnet
  5. 5
    To become less intense, e.g. less amicable or passionate. figuratively, intransitive

    "Relations cooled between the USA and the USSR after 1980."

Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    make cool or cooler wordnet
  2. 7
    To make less intense, e.g. less amicable or passionate. figuratively, transitive

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

  3. 8
    To kill, murder. dated, slang, transitive

    "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."

  4. 9
    To relax, hang out. intransitive, slang

    "Seen my homeboys coolin' way way out / Told 'em bout my mornin' cold bugged' em out"

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of a mildly low temperature.

    "I like cool weather the most 'cause it's not too hot to wear a jacket but I won't be too cold in my shorts."

  2. 2
    Allowing or suggesting heat relief.

    "Linen has made cool and breathable clothing for millennia."

  3. 3
    Of a color, in the range of violet to green.

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

  4. 4
    Not showing emotion; calm and in control of oneself.

    "Be cool. There's no need to panic."

  5. 5
    Unenthusiastic; lukewarm; skeptical.

    "His proposals had a cool reception."

Show 8 more definitions
  1. 6
    Calmly audacious.

    "Its cool stare of familiarity was intolerable."

  2. 7
    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."

  3. 8
    Knowing what to do and how to behave; behaving with effortless and enviable style and panache; considered popular by others. informal

    "[…] while the coachman holding whip and reins in one hand, takes off his hat with the other, and resting it on his knees, pulls out his handkerchief, and wipes his forehead, partly because he has a habit of doing it, and partly because it's as well to shew the passengers how cool he is, and what an easy thing it is to drive four-in-hand, when you have had as much practice as he has."

  4. 9
    Fashionable; trendy; hip. informal

    "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."

  5. 10
    All right; acceptable; good. informal

    "Is it cool if I sleep here tonight?"

  6. 11
    Very interesting or exciting. informal

    "I think astronomy is really cool."

  7. 12
    Followed by with: able to tolerate. informal

    "I'm completely cool with my girlfriend leaving me."

  8. 13
    Of a pair of people, Having good relations. informal

    "We're cool, right?"

Adjective
  1. 1
    marked by calm self-control (especially in trying circumstances); unemotional wordnet
  2. 2
    fashionable and attractive at the time; often skilled or socially adept wordnet
  3. 3
    used of a quantity or amount (especially of money) for emphasis wordnet
  4. 4
    being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition wordnet
  5. 5
    neither warm nor very cold; giving relief from heat wordnet
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    psychologically cool and unenthusiastic; unfriendly or unresponsive or showing dislike wordnet
  2. 7
    inducing the impression of coolness; used especially of greens and blues and violets when referring to color wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    Initialism of CLIPS Object-Oriented Language. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
  2. 2
    A surname.
  3. 3
    A surname.; Ellipsis of McCool; a surname from Irish, anglicized form of McCool. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis

Synonyms

All synonyms
poiseabateabnegationabove all thatabsolute zeroabstinence

Example

"I don't want to be lame; I want to be cool!!"

Common questions

What does "cool" mean?

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

What is a synonym for "cool"?

Common synonyms include: poise, abate, abnegation, above all that, absolute zero, abstinence.

How do you use "cool" in a sentence?

I don't want to be lame; I want to be cool!!

How do you pronounce "cool"?

Pronounced /kuːl/.

Etymology

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.

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.

More for "cool"

Synonyms

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