English

Alternative forms

• phlegmatick
• phlegmaticke
• phlegmatique

Adjective

phlegmatic ‎(comparative more phlegmatic, superlative most phlegmatic)

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

     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.

   • 2013, A.O. Scott, “How It Looks to Think: Watch Her,” Rev. of Hannah Arendt, dir. by Margarethe von Trotta, New York Times 29 May 2013: C1. Print.

     Their friendship (immortalized in a splendid volume of letters that has clearly served as one of Ms. von Trotta's sources) is a fascinating study in cultural and temperamental contrast, an impulsive and witty American paired with a steady, phlegmatic German.

2. (archaic) Abounding in phlegm; as, phlegmatic humors; a phlegmatic constitution.
3. Generating, causing, or full of phlegm.
   • Sir Thomas Browne

     cold and phlegmatic habitations

4. Watery (clarification of this English definition is being sought).

Synonyms

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

Related terms

• phlegm
• phlegmatically

Translations

Noun

phlegmatic ‎(plural phlegmatics)

1. One who has a phlegmatic disposition.

Translations