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imperturbable self-possession, poise, or assurance.
the perpendicular, or vertical, position.
Contemporary Examples

Meanwhile, during the past several years in Champagne, the “Grower” movement has gained momentum and aplomb.
Champagne Goes Rogue Jordan Salcito December 27, 2013

When he needed to put Rick Perry and Rick Santorum away during the primaries, by God he did it, and with aplomb.
Mitt Romney’s Game-Change Moment in the Denver Presidential Debate Michael Tomasky October 1, 2012

But Obama and his party have been playing the race card with the aplomb of a Jim Crow Democrat.
The Tribal Election: Barack Obama Turns to the Karl Rove Playbook Joel Kotkin July 23, 2012

And your current brand of persuasion entails tempering pushiness with aplomb, brute force with benevolence.
Horoscopes for June 12-18, 2011 Starsky + Cox June 11, 2011

Resolving moral dilemmas is her daily work, and she does it with clarity and aplomb.
Ian McEwan’s New Novel Keeps Life at Arm’s Length Nick Romeo September 10, 2014

Historical Examples

Was there nothing said about the airs of a country school-ma’am, the aplomb of an adventurer?
A Little Journey in the World Charles Dudley Warner

Miss Milbrey disunited the chatting couple with swiftness and aplomb.
The Spenders Harry Leon Wilson

“Your father didn’t wish you to hear,” she said, with all the aplomb she could muster.
The Forsyte Saga, Volume III. John Galsworthy

She received his bits of news with the aplomb of a resourceful commander.
The Spenders Harry Leon Wilson

Suddenly, as if by magic, his aplomb returned, and in a flash of understanding he perceived the situation.
Coniston, Complete Winston Churchill

noun
equanimity, self-confidence, or self-possession
noun

perpendicularity
Word Origin

Middle French a plomb ‘according to the plummet’
n.

“assurance, confidence,” 1828, from French aplomb (16c.), literally “perpendicularity,” from phrase à plomb “poised upright, balanced,” literally “on the plumb line,” from Latin plumbum “(the metal) lead” (see plumb (n.)), of which the weight at the end of the line was made.