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stoic

1 of 2

noun

sto·icˈstō-ik How to pronounce stoic (audio)

capitalized:a member of a school of philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium about 300b.c. holding that the wise man should be free from passion, unmoved by joy or grief, and submissive tonatural law

:one apparently or professedlyindifferent to pleasure or pain

stoic

2 of 2

adjective

sto·icˈstō-ik How to pronounce stoic (audio)

variants orstoical

ˈstō-i-kəl How to pronounce stoic (audio)

capitalized:of, relating to, or resembling theStoics or their doctrines

Stoic logic

:not affected by or showing passion or feeling

especially:firmly restraining response to pain or distress

astoic indifference to cold

stoically

ˈstō-i-k(ə-)lē How to pronounce stoic (audio)

adverb

Did you know?

What is the origin ofstoic?

The familiar phrase “keep calm and carry on” would have made a lot of sense to the philosopherZeno of Citium, born in Cyprus in the 4th century B.C.E. As a young man, Zeno traveled to Athens and studied with the important philosophers of the day, among them two influentialCynics. He eventually arrived at his own philosophy and began teaching at a public hall called the Stoa Poikile. Zeno's philosophy, Stoicism, took its name from the hall where he taught; it preached self-control, fortitude, and justice, and that passion was the cause of all evil. By the 14th century, English speakers had adopted the nounstoic as a general term for anyone able to face adversity calmly and without excess emotion, and by the 15th century,stoic was being used as an adjective to describe that same kind of person.

Synonyms

Adjective

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Choose the Right Synonym forstoic

impassive,stoic,phlegmatic,apathetic,stolid mean unresponsive to something that might normally excite interest or emotion.

impassive stresses the absence of any external sign of emotion in action or facial expression.

met the news with animpassive look

stoic implies an apparent indifference to pleasure or especially to pain often as a matter of principle or self-discipline.

was resolutelystoic even in adversity

phlegmatic implies a temperament or constitution hard to arouse.

aphlegmatic man unmoved by tears

apathetic may imply a puzzling or deplorable indifference or inertness.

charitable appeals met anapathetic response

stolid implies a habitual absence of interest, responsiveness, or curiosity.

stolid workers wedded to routine

Examples ofstoic in a Sentence

Noun"That would have been to dishonor him," said Carr, a notoriousstoic who was nearly overcome by emotion in his postgame press conference. Instead, he told the Wolverines that the best way to honor Schembechler was "to play in a way that would have made him proud."—

Austin Murphy,Sports Illustrated,27 Nov. 2006

The philosophical implications of this claim are as volcanic as the emotions it depicts, for Nussbaum here counters an age-old view espoused byStoics, Christians and Kantians, alike: emotions are disruptive and subversive to reason, they arise from parochial needs and interests and therefore the life well lived is the life in which the things of this world are left behind for a higher sphere beyond accident, pain and desire.—

Wendy Steiner,New York Times Book Review,18 Nov. 2001

Whereas Ludwig Wittgenstein once compared philosophers to garbage men sweeping the mind clean of wrongheaded concepts, Nussbaum believes they should be "lawyers for humanity"—a phrase she borrows from Seneca, her favoriteStoic thinker.—

Robert S. Boynton,New York Times Magazine,21 Nov. 1999

AdjectiveMystoic Serbian brother-in-law, Aleksandar Vasilic, gave me the ultimate confidence booster of bawling all the way through the manuscript when I gave it to him to read.—

Helene Cooper,The House At Sugar Beach,(2008) 2009

Grant recorded his thought-experiment when he was an old man dying of cancer, who in spite of his pain had managed to achieve astoical serenity.—

Jackson Lears,New Republic,9 & 16 Sept. 2002

As it flew past the pole, a three-run homer, Richardson saw thestoical Berra do something he'd never seen him do. "Halfway between home and first, he was jumping up and down," Richardson recalls. "Boy, was he happy to hit that ball!"—

William Nack,Sports Illustrated,23 Oct. 2000

He had astoic expression on his face. after waiting six years for permission to immigrate to the U.S., the family isstoic about a six-month postponement

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage.Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.Send us feedback.

Noun

And Messi, the archstoic, was no longer able to hold back the emotion.—

Jack Lang,The Athletic, 14 July 2024In the closing section, the author throws shade at unnamed ideological adversaries — perhaps thestoics?—

Claudio Lavanga,NBC News, 9 Feb. 2024

Adjective

And Susie Cullen’s production design turns typical markers of a fine-dining environment — windowless bathroom stalls; orange mood lighting; astoicstaff — into elements of a garish nightmare.—

Lovia Gyarkye,The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Mar. 2025The track cover shows a throwback photo of a relatively makeup-free Parton, grinning with her arms around Dean, who dons a white T-shirt andstoicpose.—

Jami Ganz,New York Daily News, 7 Mar. 2025See All Example Sentences forstoic

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Adjective

Middle English, from Latinstoicus, from Greekstōïkos, literally, of the portico, fromStoa (Poikilē) the Painted Portico, portico at Athens where Zeno taught

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined atsense 1

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined atsense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use ofstoic was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century