attitude

[ at-i-tood, -tyood ]

noun

1. manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with regard to a person or thing; tendency or orientation, especially of the mind:

   a negative attitude; group attitudes.

2. position or posture of the body appropriate to or expressive of an action, emotion, etc.:

   a threatening attitude; a relaxed attitude.

3. Aeronautics. the inclination of the three principal axes of an aircraft relative to the wind, to the ground, etc.
4. Ballet. a pose in which the dancer stands on one leg, the other bent behind.

attitude

/ ˈætɪˌtjuːd /

noun

1. the way a person views something or tends to behave towards it, often in an evaluative way
2. a theatrical pose created for effect (esp in the phrase strike an attitude )
3. a position of the body indicating mood or emotion
4. informal.
   a hostile manner

   don't give me attitude, my girl

5. See axis
   the orientation of an aircraft's axes in relation to some plane, esp the horizontal See also axis 1
6. the orientation of a spacecraft in relation to its direction of motion
7. ballet a classical position in which the body is upright and one leg raised and bent behind

Derived Forms

• ˌattiˈtudinal, adjective

Other Words From

• at·ti·tu·di·nal [at-i-, tood, -n-l, -, tyood, -], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of attitude¹

First recorded in 1660–70; from French, from Italian attitudine, from Late Latin aptitūdini- (stem of aptitūdō ); aptitude

Word History and Origins

Origin of attitude¹

C17: from French, from Italian attitudine disposition, from Late Latin aptitūdō fitness, from Latin aptus apt

Synonym Study

See position.

Example Sentences

I think a lot of it has to do with the attitude and the energy behind it and the honesty.

From The Daily Beast

From this attitude he draws a singular comic and literary power.

From The Daily Beast

Alexander Stephens, vice president of the Confederacy, summed up the Southern attitude in his 1861 Cornerstone Speech.

From The Daily Beast

In a way, this is worse than the racism of white supremacists, since this is thought to be an honorable attitude.

From The Daily Beast

With his anachronistic attitude toward the biblical story, Bale is just following the lead of his director.

From The Daily Beast

The dormant accounts most of the banks maintain with the reserve bank are, perhaps, indicative of their attitude toward it.

From Project Gutenberg

So much for the attitude of the various schools of religious thought towards the Bible.

From Project Gutenberg

Her eyes were blazing with triumph, yet her lips curved with contempt at the attitude of her trembling father.

From Project Gutenberg

His attitude was one of hopeless resignation as he looked toward a distant bird winging its flight away from him.

From Project Gutenberg

This tendency to take art-representations for realities reappears even in the mental attitude of a child towards his stories.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• angle
• approach
• belief
• demeanor
• mindset
• mood
• notion
• outlook
• perspective
• philosophy
• point of view
• position
• posture
• reaction
• sentiment
• slant
• stance
• stand
• standpoint
• temperament