calculating

/'kælkjuleitiɳ/

Thân thiện

A chess player makes a calculating move during a tournament.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Acting in a scheming and manipulative way: Describes a person who carefully plans actions to achieve personal advantage, often with a cold, selfish, or ruthless attitude.
   • Making decisions based on careful, often cold, reasoning about benefits and consequences: Suggests a deliberate, unemotional, and self-interested approach to situations.

Usage

• The word "calculating" is used to describe a person's character or their specific behavior. It carries a strong negative connotation, implying cunning, a lack of warmth, and a focus on personal gain.
• It is typically used attributively (before a noun) or predicatively (after a linking verb like 'is' or 'seems').

Examples

• Adjective:
  • She gave him a calculating look, sizing up his potential usefulness.
  • His calculating nature made it difficult for anyone to trust him.
  • The move was cold and calculating, designed to eliminate the competition.

Advanced Usage

• "In a calculating manner": This adverbial phrase describes how an action is performed.
  • He invested his money in a calculating manner, focusing solely on the highest returns.

Variants and Related Words

• Calculate (verb): To determine mathematically or to plan deliberately.
  • They needed to calculate the exact costs.
• Calculation (noun): The process of calculating; can also mean careful planning.
  • His decision was based on cold calculation, not emotion.
• Calculated (adjective): Done with full awareness or intent, often with a similar negative implication as "calculating."
  • It was a calculated risk. (This can be neutral or negative depending on context.)

Synonyms

• Scheming: Involved in making secret and often dishonest plans.
• Cunning: Skilled at achieving one's ends by deceit or evasion.
• Shrewd: Having or showing sharp powers of judgment, often in a practical, self-interested way (can be less negative than "calculating").
• Manipulative: Exercising unscrupulous control or influence over a person or situation.

Antonyms

• Spontaneous: Performed or occurring as a result of a sudden impulse.
• Genuine: Truly what something is said to be; authentic and sincere.
• Artless: Without guile or deception; natural and simple.

Related Phrases

• Cold and calculating: A common collocation emphasizing the emotional detachment and deliberate planning.
  • The villain was portrayed as cold and calculating.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. used of persons
   • the most calculating and selfish men in the community

Từ đồng nghĩa

• calculative
• conniving
• scheming
• shrewd