phlegmatic

WOTD – 17 July 2007    

English

Alternative forms

• phlegmatick
• phlegmaticke
• phlegmatique

Etymology

From Ancient Greek φλέγμα (phlégma, “phlegma”)

Pronunciation

• IPA: /flɛɡˈmætɪk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ætɪk

Adjective

phlegmatic (comparative more phlegmatic, superlative most phlegmatic)

1. Not easily excited to action or passion; calm; sluggish.
   • 1873, Jules Verne, chapter 2, Around the World in 80 Days^[1]:

     Calm and phlegmatic, with a clear eye, Mr. Fogg seemed a perfect type of that English composure which Angelica Kauffmann has so skilfully represented on canvas.

2. (archaic) Abounding in phlegm; as, phlegmatic humors; a phlegmatic constitution.
3. Generating, causing, or full of phlegm.
4. Watery.

Synonyms

• (calm and reasonable, tending not to get upset): apathetic, sluggish, cold-blooded, unflappable, stoic

Related terms

• phlegm
• phlegmatically

Translations

not easily excited to action

• Catalan: flegmàtic (ca)
• Czech: flegmatický (cs)
• Finnish: flegmaattinen (fi)
• French: flegmatique (fr) m and f
• German: phlegmatisch (de)
• Greek: φλεγματικός (el) (flegmatikós)

• Hebrew: פלגמטי (flegmati)
• Italian: flemmatico (it)
• Polish: flegmatyczny (pl) m
• Russian: флегматический (ru) (flegmatíčeskij), флегматичный (ru) (flegmatíčnyj)
• Spanish: flemático
• Swedish: flegmatisk (sv), sävlig (sv)

abounding in phlegm

• Catalan: flegmàtic (ca)
• German: phlegmatisch (de)

• Spanish: flemático (es)
• Swedish: flegmatisk (sv)

generating, causing, or full of phlegm

• Catalan: flegmàtic (ca)

watery

• Romanian: apos (ro) m and n, apoasa (ro) f, aposi (ro) m pl, apoase (ro) f pl

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Greek: φλεγματικός
• Japanese: 粘液質の (ねんえきしつの, nen eki shitsu no)

Noun

phlegmatic (plural phlegmatics)

1. One who has a phlegmatic disposition.