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

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. )

Example Sentences

She points out her mother in a stylish red minidress, knee-high socks and black platforms, posing playfully in a photo studio after getting her hair done in 1970s Beirut.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 29, 2026

Others lined up to pay $10 to mall staff wearing "Face Painter" vests before posing for selfies with cheeks bearing their national side's colors.

From Barron's • Jun. 27, 2026

He and his team used ruses to try to talk to the franchisee or serve legal papers, including appearing in a fake UPS cap, posing as a Mormon and wearing a wig.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 26, 2026

Two earthquakes over magnitude-7 killed more than 900 people and injured over 3,000 in Venezuela, posing a crisis for acting President Delcy Rodríguez.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 26, 2026

I show her the picture of Nuah posing with the fez.

From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali

Related Words

• charade
• cloak
• pretext
• semblance
• veneer