detachment
calm, objective attitude
A calm way of thinking where you do not let strong feelings affect your judgment.
[someone] shows/maintains detachment from [something]
- The therapist must maintain a certain level of detachment in order to help clients effectively.
- Her journalistic detachment allowed her to report on the tragedy without letting her emotions take over.
- He watched the argument with cool detachment, refusing to take sides.
- Academic research requires detachment from personal beliefs and preferences.
- The judge listened with careful detachment, focusing only on the evidence.
- The doctor spoke with calm detachment about the test results.
- As a reporter, she tries to keep detachment from the story.
- His detachment helped him make a fair decision.
- Good scientists use detachment and do not let emotions change the result.
- The manager kept a professional detachment during the meeting.
feeling of emotional distance
A feeling that you are not close to people or to what is happening, as if you are outside the situation.
[someone] feels a sense of detachment from [something/someone]
- After years of working overtime, he began to feel a deep detachment from his job and colleagues.
- The film explores a teenager's growing detachment from his family and friends.
- Persistent stress left her with a troubling sense of detachment from her own life.
- His emotional detachment made it hard for others to get close to him.
- The therapist noted her detachment from reality as a symptom that needed attention.
- She feels a strong detachment from her parents.
- His emotional detachment hurts his partner.
- Many people felt detachment from work during the crisis.
- He watched his life with a strange detachment, like a movie.
- Her detachment from reality worried her friends.
act or process of separation
The action or result when one thing is taken away from another thing it was joined to.
the detachment of [something] from [something]
- The engineer explained that the detachment of the wing panel was caused by metal fatigue.
- Early treatment is crucial in cases of retinal detachment.
- The detachment of the old wallpaper took much longer than we expected.
- A small detachment of the cable caused the entire system to fail.
- The report blamed the accident on the detachment of a safety device during operation.
- The detachment of the cover broke the machine.
- Retinal detachment can damage a person’s eyesight.
- They planned the safe detachment of the old bridge parts.
- The problem came from the detachment of one small wire.
- Detachment of the wheel is very dangerous.
small military or police unit
A small group of soldiers or police that is sent to a place to do a special job.
a detachment of [soldiers/police/troops]
- A detachment of troops was sent to secure the border crossing.
- The UN deployed a small detachment of peacekeepers to the region.
- Police formed a special detachment to handle the high-profile investigation.
- A naval detachment remained in the area to assist with rescue operations.
- The ceremony was guarded by a detachment of elite soldiers.
- A detachment of soldiers arrived at the village.
- The government sent a police detachment to the area.
- A small detachment of troops stayed behind.
- They called in a special detachment to protect the airport.
- The peacekeeping detachment will leave next week.
- Base: detachment
- Plural: detachment, detachments
a detachment of troops
1small group of soldiers
A small number of soldiers who are sent from the main army to a special place or job.
- A detachment of troops was sent to protect the embassy.
- The government ordered a detachment of troops to the border area.
- A small detachment of troops stayed behind to guard the base.
a sense of detachment
1feeling of being separate
A clear feeling that you are not really part of a situation, but standing outside it.
- She watched the scene with a sense of detachment, as if it were happening to someone else.
- Traveling alone gave him a sense of detachment from his normal life.
- There was a strange sense of detachment in the room after the bad news.
detachment from reality
1psychological disconnection from reality
When a person does not fully feel or understand what is really happening around them.
- The character's detachment from reality becomes clear as the story goes on.
- Long-term stress can sometimes cause a feeling of detachment from reality.
- The doctor was concerned about his detachment from reality after the accident.
emotional detachment
1lack of emotional connection
Not feeling or showing normal emotions toward people or events, often feeling separate from them.
- His emotional detachment made it hard for his partner to trust him.
- Therapy helped her understand the reasons for her emotional detachment.
- The character's emotional detachment is a central theme in the novel.
professional detachment
1calm objectivity at work
Staying calm and not letting personal feelings change your judgment in your job.
- Doctors need a degree of professional detachment when talking about serious illnesses.
- Her professional detachment helped her make a fair decision about the team conflict.
- Journalists are trained to keep professional detachment from the stories they cover.
with a certain detachment
1in a calm, uninvolved way
In a way that is not very emotional or personal; calmly watching instead of joining.
- He described the accident with a certain detachment, as if it had happened to someone else.
- Over time, she learned to look at her problems with a certain detachment.
- The historian writes about past wars with a certain detachment.