cool head
8
4.1
- noun
:
cabeza fría
- If so, how do you keep such a cool head and stay so professional?
- keep a cool head
- cool heads prevail
- need a cool head
If we don't play this correctly, and they do, we need cool heads from our leaders.
- If we don't play this correctly, and they do, we need cool heads from our leaders.
- I think that there is a sense in which cooler heads have prevailed at crucial moments.
- Why can't cooler heads just prevail and and treat things rationally like adults?
Examples
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Then, come back and read it again—with a cool head and calm heart.
Blog text (7) -
The only way of enduring it is by keeping a cool head.
-
Keep a cool head, man.
-
"Would he be a cool head in a crisis, if it comes to it?"
Fiction book (1995) -
But you do have to keep a cool head.
Fiction book (1991) -
This is a job that calls for cool heads.
-
Crisis management is a skill that takes a cool head and lots of preparation.
Blog text (22) -
But we've gotta keep cool heads, see things the way they are.
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I praise you, Kelsey, for your insight, research, and cool head.
Blog text (29) -
In stressful situations, it's important to keep a cool head and think rationally.
Synonyms
38
5.1
Calm control of your feelings and actions in a difficult situation
18
5.0
Calm and control of feelings in difficult situations
3
3.6
Calm and steady behaviour when you are under pressure
1
4.1
A calm, steady way of behaving when things are stressful
Calm and clear thinking that helps you make good decisions
How Calm
1
9.0
1
7.9
1
6.7
8
4.1
38
5.1
9
2.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'ability to remain calm' is directly derivable from combining 'cool' (calm) with 'head' (the mind/person's head) — a head that is cool = calm thinking. This adjective+noun composition is a common, cross-linguistic metaphor (e.g., Spanish 'tener la cabeza fría') and follows normal semantic composition, so a B1 learner who knows both words will likely infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The phrase cool head may come from the simple image of someone putting something cool on their head, like water or a cloth, to calm down. So cool head means 'the ability to stay calm' in a stressful situation.