attitude
[at-i-tood, -tyood]
- manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with regard to a person or thing; tendency or orientation, especially of the mind: a negative attitude; group attitudes.
- position or posture of the body appropriate to or expressive of an action, emotion, etc.: a threatening attitude; a relaxed attitude.
- Aeronautics. the inclination of the three principal axes of an aircraft relative to the wind, to the ground, etc.
- Ballet. a pose in which the dancer stands on one leg, the other bent behind.
Origin of attitude
Synonyms
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com2. See position.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for attitude
Contemporary Examples
I think a lot of it has to do with the attitude and the energy behind it and the honesty.
From this attitude he draws a singular comic and literary power.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim PresidentPierre Assouline
January 9, 2015
Alexander Stephens, vice president of the Confederacy, summed up the Southern attitude in his 1861 Cornerstone Speech.
Or that she probably, given her attitude toward Spotify, wants more money than that per stream if she has to let me do it?
Death of the Author by Viral Infection: In Defense of Taylor Swift, Digital DoomsayerArthur Chu
December 3, 2014
Oddly enough, many who hold this “not like us” attitude are religious people.
Historical Examples
Let us realize the importance of the attitude in which we stand before the world.
He was in doubt as to the attitude he had better assume to Will and Ted.
The Raid From Beausejour; And How The Carter Boys Lifted The MortgageCharles G. D. Roberts
It is expressed in conduct, of course; but conduct may fail while the attitude can remain constant.
The Conquest of FearBasil King
Their common decency in attitude toward the other sex was the unique bond of union.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
In the instant of reply, Dick Gilder, by some inspiration of love, changed his attitude.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
attitude
- the way a person views something or tends to behave towards it, often in an evaluative way
- a theatrical pose created for effect (esp in the phrase strike an attitude)
- a position of the body indicating mood or emotion
- informal a hostile mannerdon't give me attitude, my girl
- the orientation of an aircraft's axes in relation to some plane, esp the horizontalSee also axis 1 (def. 1)
- the orientation of a spacecraft in relation to its direction of motion
- ballet a classical position in which the body is upright and one leg raised and bent behind
Word Origin
C17: from French, from Italian attitudine disposition, from Late Latin aptitūdō fitness, from Latin aptus apt
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for attitude
n.
1660s, via French attitude (17c.), from Italian attitudine "disposition, posture," also "aptness, promptitude," from Late Latin aptitudinem (nominative aptitudo; see aptitude). Originally 17c. a technical term in art for the posture of a figure in a statue or painting; later generalized to "a posture of the body supposed to imply some mental state" (1725). Sense of "settled behavior reflecting feeling or opinion" is first recorded 1837. Connotations of "antagonistic and uncooperative" developed by 1962 in slang.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
attitude
(ăt′ĭ-tōōd′)
- The position of the body and limbs; posture.
- A manner of acting.
- A relatively stable and enduring predisposition to behave or react in a characteristic way.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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