Both Uses of
aloof
in
Tess of the d'Urbervilles
- She had held so aloof of late that her trouble, never generally known, was nearly forgotten in Marlott.†
Chpt 2 *aloof = socially distant or uninterested
- Living in such close relations, to meet meant to fall into endearment; flesh and blood could not resist it; and, having arrived at no conclusion as to the issue of such a tendency, he decided to hold aloof for the present from occupations in which they would be mutually engaged.†
Chpt 4
Definition:
socially distant or uninterested in something that interests others -- often thinking oneself superior to others