Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

cool as a cucumber

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.40 in modern English

Syllables: cool as a cu-cum-ber
IPA

25

Scrabble Score

15

Letters

3

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Calm and composed even in difficult or frustrating situations; self-possessed.

Informal

Example Sentences

"Even during the elections, Josh was as cool as a cucumber."
"Still he had all his wits about him, and was as cool as a cucumber."
"1731, Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, Miscellanies: The Last Volume Pert as a Pear-Monger I'd be, If Molly were but kind; Cool as a Cucumber could see The rest of Womankind"
"Seconds later, Dowd was pointing to the spot again - this time without changing his mind - after Walcott was tugged back by Parker. Fabregas, cool as a cucumber, fired his penalty straight down the middle of the goal."
"“I’d be shaking in my shoes to ride in the Preakness,” said Desormeaux, who finished dead last in his first Preakness in 1988. “Now, not only have I won it twice [in 1998 on Real Quiet and in 2008 on Big Brown], I’ve lived life. I’ll be as cool as a cucumber in the saddle” with Exaggerator on Saturday."

Etymology

First use appears c. 1722 in a translation of Robinson Crusoe. See cite below.

Usage

Informal

Phrases

cool, calm and collected

Frequently Paired Words

cool, calm and collected

Synonyms

calm calm as a cucumber collected composed cool in control level-headed rational self-possessed

Questions

What does cool as a cucumber mean?: Calm and composed even in difficult or frustrating situations; self-possessed.
Where does cool as a cucumber come from?: First use appears c. 1722 in a translation of Robinson Crusoe. See cite below.

How to pronounce cool as a cucumber

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