posing

¹ American  

[poh-zing] / ˈpoʊ zɪŋ /

noun

1. the act or practice of assuming a particular attitude or stance, especially with the hope of impressing others.

   The new website aims to strip away the pretentious posing of wine connoisseurs, inviting users to “tell us what tastes good to you!”

2. the act or practice of falsely representing oneself.

   Under all his posing as an honest reporter, his real purpose is to defend a barbarous regime.

3. the act of assuming or holding a particular physical position, or of placing someone else in such a position, as for a portrait or photograph.

   She liked to paint women and children, and the natural posing of her subjects is still unsurpassed.

4. the act of putting forward, stating, or suggesting something, as a question, hypothesis, matter for consideration, etc..

   Classroom strategies like cooperative learning and the posing of open-ended questions can encourage thinking and discussion.

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adjective

1. falsely representing oneself, or assuming a particular attitude or stance in the hope of impressing others.

   I don’t fit in—everyone else in that place is a filmmaker, an "edgy" magazine journalist, or a posing hipster.

2. assuming a particular physical position, as for a portrait or photograph.

   I love how real and natural these images are—no posing tourists, just scenic beauty on its own.

posing ² American  

[poh-zing] / ˈpoʊ zɪŋ /

adjective

1. baffling, perplexing, or vexing; difficult.

   The command to “love your neighbor as you love yourself” has within it the most posing challenge for you and me—learning to love ourselves.

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Other Word Forms

• posingly
  adverb

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Etymology

Origin of posing¹

First recorded in 1850–55; pos(e) ¹ ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun senses; pos(e) ¹ ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses

Origin of posing²

pos(e) ² ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. )

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

posing

The milestone caps the 15-year tenure of former CEO Tim Cook, posing a challenge to Apple’s new Chief Executive John Ternus.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

But spend enough time online and you’ll realize that the facade of cozy nights in and days quietly posing for photos lit by never-ceasing natural light is just that.

From Slate ● Oct. 11, 2026

Researchers posing as teenagers with San Francisco Bay Area-based accounts tested more than 4,000 prompts before and after the launch of ChatGPT for Teens.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

People should hang up the phone if they receive any calls from someone they think might be posing as Asos or another organisation, says Which? spokesperson Kat Cereda.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Cat turned the page, showing a picture of Mom in the same dress, posing with Lily in sky blue.

From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn

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Related Words

• charade
• cloak
• pretext
• semblance
• veneer

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