standoffishness

English

Alternative forms

• stand-offishness

Etymology

From standoffish +‎ -ness.

Noun

standoffishness (uncountable)

1. The state, quality, or condition of being standoffish or aloof and unsociable; aloofness.
   • 2004, Kate Fox, “Rules of Sex”, in Watching the English, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, page 336:

     Many of the seemingly bizarre courtship practices of English males—the cautiousness, reserve and apparent stand-offishness that foreign females complain about—are characteristic features of ‘negative politeness’.

Translations

unsociable

• Spanish: hurañía f, frialdad (es) f, reserva (es) f