phlegmatic \fleg-MAT-ik\ adjective
1 : resembling, consisting of, or producing the humor phlegm
*2 : having or showing a slow and stolid temperament
Example sentence: He is a phlegmatic coach at courtside, but in the locker room he fires up (and, when necessary, reams out) his players, inspiring them to win.
Did you know? According to the ancient Greeks, human personalities were controlled by four bodily fluids or semifluids called "humors": blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm. Each humor was associated with one of the four basic elements: air, earth, fire, and water. Phlegm was paired with water -- the cold, moist element -- and it was believed to impart the cool, calm, unemotional personality we now call the "phlegmatic type." That's a bit odd, given that the term derives from the Greek "phlegma," which literally means "flame," perhaps a reflection of the inflammation that colds and flus often bring.
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