philosophical
15
6.7
- adjective
- /ˌfɪləˈsɑfɪkəl/
- I have been rather philosophical lately.
Examples
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I'm trying to maintain a philosophical attitude, but the truth is, I'm kinda depressed.
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But I think I've gotten more philosophical and maybe more real world oriented as time has gone by.
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Even that sounds very philosophical, but me, it's pretty real.
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And for that I go through science again, because I begin to become too philosophical again.
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Now we're going to get philosophical, maybe a little bit emotional.
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He was very philosophical about it.
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We're a great match, don't you think so?" Joe was in a philosophical mood that morning.
Fiction book (1990) -
I have time to get philosophical about these things now that I've retired.
Fiction book (2001) -
"You learn to be fairly philosophical about it," Sease told me.
Academic text (2007) -
Despite the challenges she faced, she remained philosophical and chose to focus on the positive aspects of her situation.
Synonyms
1
7.0
Being calm and accepting when bad things happen
Calm and in control of your feelings in difficult situations
Antonyms
Compounds
A set of ideas about life, knowledge, or right and wrong that people accept and follow
How Calm
Surface Forms
Morphology
philosophical = philosophy (semi-transparent) = philosophy + ical
The adjectival form is built from 'philosophy', but the sense 'calmly accepting' is a figurative extension of philosophical attitudes rather than the literal academic meaning, so inference from the base is only partially reliable for learners.
Etymology
Philosophical comes from Greek philo- 'love' and sophia 'wisdom', the same root as philosophy, and a helpful way to remember the everyday sense is that a 'philosophical' person stays calm and accepts trouble because they act with wisdom.