attitude
Americannoun
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manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with regard to a person or thing; tendency or orientation, especially of the mind.
a negative attitude; group attitudes.
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position or posture of the body appropriate to or expressive of an action, emotion, etc..
a threatening attitude; a relaxed attitude.
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Aeronautics. the inclination of the three principal axes of an aircraft relative to the wind, to the ground, etc.
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Ballet. a pose in which the dancer stands on one leg, the other bent behind.
noun
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the way a person views something or tends to behave towards it, often in an evaluative way
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a theatrical pose created for effect (esp in the phrase strike an attitude )
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a position of the body indicating mood or emotion
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informal a hostile manner
don't give me attitude, my girl
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the orientation of an aircraft's axes in relation to some plane, esp the horizontal See also axis 1
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the orientation of a spacecraft in relation to its direction of motion
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ballet a classical position in which the body is upright and one leg raised and bent behind
Related Words
See position.
Other Word Forms
- attitudinal adjective
Etymology
Origin of attitude
First recorded in 1660–70; from French, from Italian attitudine, from Late Latin aptitūdini- (stem of aptitūdō ); aptitude
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.
“Trips to China have made me grumpy and given me a bad attitude toward American-market EVs,” wrote Kevin Williams at InsideEVs.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 7, 2026
The pope doesn’t find its attitude very Catholic.
From Slate • Apr. 6, 2026
“We’re here to make the Chrysler brand feel unexpected again, sharper, unapologetic and, yeah, a lot more attitude than people expect from a minivan brand,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026
Couple that with the group’s uncompromising punk rock attitude about their structure and message, and it’s easy to see why Irreversible Entanglements might not fit cleanly into everyone’s preconceived notions about “jazz.”
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2026
Selvam’s easy attitude towards her son brought Ira even closer to him.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
