posture
Americannoun
-
postures
plural
-
the relative disposition of the parts of something.
-
the position of the limbs or the carriage of the body as a whole.
poor posture; a sitting posture.
-
an affected or unnatural attitude.
He struck a comic posture.
-
a mental or spiritual attitude.
His ideas reveal a defensive posture.
-
one's image or policy as perceived by the public, other nations, etc..
The company wants to develop a more aggressive marketing posture.
-
position, condition, or state, as of affairs.
verb (used with object)
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postures,
present (3rd person singular)
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postured,
past participle, past
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posturing
present participle
-
to place in a particular posture or attitude.
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to position, especially strategically.
to posture troops along a border.
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to develop a policy or stance for (oneself, a company, government, etc.).
The White House postured itself for dealing with the fuel crisis.
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to adopt an attitude or take an official position on (a matter).
The company postured that the court's ruling could be interpreted as being in its favor.
verb (used without object)
-
postures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
postured,
past participle, past
-
posturing
present participle
-
to assume a particular posture.
-
to assume affected or unnatural postures, as by bending or contorting the body.
-
to act in an affected or artificial manner, as to create a certain impression.
noun
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a position or attitude of the limbs or body
-
a characteristic manner of bearing the body; carriage
to have good posture
-
the disposition of the parts of a visible object
-
a mental attitude or frame of mind
-
a state, situation, or condition
-
a false or affected attitude; pose
verb
-
to assume or cause to assume a bodily position or attitude
-
(intr) to assume an affected or unnatural bodily or mental posture; pose
Synonym Usage
See position.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
posturesimple
-
posturessimple
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have posturedperfect
-
has posturedperfect
-
am posturingprogressive
-
are posturingprogressive
-
is posturingprogressive
-
have been posturingperfect progressive
-
has been posturingperfect progressive
Past
-
posturedsimple
-
had posturedperfect
-
was posturingprogressive
-
were posturingprogressive
-
had been posturingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of posture
First recorded in 1595–1605; from French, from Italian postura, from Latin positūra. See posit, -ure
Explanation
Posture is the way you position your body or arrange your limbs. So stand up straight, put your shoulders back, and lift that chin up. Ballerinas have an elegant, graceful posture, and soldiers tend to display a rigid, strong posture. If you sit hunched over your desk every day you'll end up with terrible posture. This noun describes the way you carry yourself, but can also describe a certain body position you take, like the different postures in yoga. If you're accused of posturing though, that's a different story — that means you're behaving unnaturally to impress someone.
Vocabulary lists containing posture
Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 1
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"Civil Disobedience," Vocabulary from the essay
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"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act V
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Yi traces a direct line from overstated population figures to China’s geopolitical posture.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
The money going into Treasurys is being funded in part by closing out a long-held overweight posture in U.S. equities and shifting to neutral “to manage potential volatility around the AI build-out.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
Over time, this position can contribute to what is commonly called text neck, a posture problem that may have consequences beyond neck discomfort.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
Its formless body accommodated slouching, lounging or lying down, selling freedom from both conventional posture and the bourgeois living room.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
The posture was the same as that day she faced Pong at the cliff’s edge, but this was a very different girl.
From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat
In another case, warthogs use distinctive body postures to invite birds and mammals to clean them.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 20, 2026
“Power Ballad” postures like a sincere drama but has the set pieces of a giant slapstick farce.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
Not only do we tend to mirror each other’s movements, postures, facial expressions and gestures; we also uncannily sync up our heart rates, blood pressure, pupil dilation and hormonal activity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026
In a transformation this fundamental, those defensive postures carry real costs.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 18, 2025
Ben emptied one box that held ashtrays from Japan, four statues of Buddha in various postures and degrees of corpulence, six oriental silk screens, and two camel seats from Morocco.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
“Southern California is very uniquely postured to help NASA,” Glover said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
"These movements ensured that US forces remain postured, protected and ready to respond decisively for any emerging threat," he said.
From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026
“As announced in September 2023, the Department of Defense is postured to provide robust enabling support for the MSS, including planning assistance, information sharing, airlift, communications, and medical support,” Southern Command said.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 10, 2024
Mr Austin told the committee in his opening statement that there has been a review of the chain of command process, saying the "system must be postured better" so this does not happen again.
From BBC ● Feb. 29, 2024
With some you postured and with some you groveled and with some you were imperious.
From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara
Jesse Watters, a stalwart of the network’s macho posturing, has spent weeks gushing over El-Sayed with an almost comical bewilderment.
From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2026
By throwing a naive character into this environment, what were you aiming to expose about the difference between posturing around these subcultures and the lived reality of them?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
Adam Posen, the president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said Bessent’s posturing was ill-advised.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
"This isn't about political posturing," Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, a Republican, said Monday.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
He drops the formal posturing and leans close, the smugness rolling off him so thickly that I think I’ll choke on it.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
