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COMPOSURE
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Steadiness of mind under stress
Example:
he accepted their problems with composure and she with equanimity
Synonyms:
calm; calmness; composure; equanimity
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("composure" is a kind of...):
disposition; temperament (your usual mood)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "composure"):
aplomb; assuredness; cool; poise; sang-froid (great coolness and composure under strain)
placidity; quiet; repose; serenity; tranquility; tranquillity (a disposition free from stress or emotion)
Antonym:
discomposure (a temperament that is perturbed and lacking in composure)
Derivation:
compose (calm (someone, especially oneself); make quiet)
Context examples:
His eyes still smouldered, but his features regained their prim composure in an instant.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
When I glanced again his face had resumed that red-Indian composure which had made so many regard him as a machine rather than a man.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
With an effort Dr. Sterndale recovered his ruffled composure.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He gave his friend a few seconds to recover his composure, and then approached the question he had come to put.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Silver took a whiff or two of his pipe with great composure and then ran on again.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
"Then I shall come home and teach drawing for my living," replied the aspirant for fame, with philosophic composure.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
But the fresh air and bright sun seldom failed to restore me to some degree of composure, and on my return I met the salutations of my friends with a readier smile and a more cheerful heart.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
He then related to them how he first found me; that my body was all covered with an artificial composure of the skins and hairs of other animals; that I spoke in a language of my own, and had thoroughly learned theirs; that I had related to him the accidents which brought me thither; that when he saw me without my covering, I was an exact Yahoo in every part, only of a whiter colour, less hairy, and with shorter claws.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
Composure with a witness! to look on, while repeated attentions were offering to another woman, before her face, and not resent it.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
He had just settled this point with great composure, when the entrance of Mrs. John Dashwood put an end to the subject.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
