Definition of "stoic" [sto•ic]

• One who is seemingly indifferent to or unaffected by joy, grief, pleasure, or pain. (noun)
• A member of an originally Greek school of philosophy, founded by Zeno about 308 B.C., believing that God determined everything for the best and that virtue is sufficient for happiness. Its later Roman form advocated the calm acceptance of all occurrences as the unavoidable result of divine will or of the natural order. (noun)
• Seemingly indifferent to or unaffected by pleasure or pain; impassive: "stoic resignation in the face of hunger” ( John F. Kennedy). (adjective)
• Of or relating to the Stoics or their philosophy. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The cackles were the kind that tapdanced up my spine, and yet I had to remain stoic and "manly" because I was watching the film with a half-dozen girls."
• "What do this republicans rightful and accepted response should be; that Obama remain stoic and keep sitting in a chair reading My Pet Goat to a bunch of school kids after he was inform of the purported attack."
• "Mrs. Tully, her face set in stoic resignation, was silent."