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

"These increases are likely to weigh on disposable incomes, dampening demand and posing a significant challenge to economic activity over the coming months."

From BBC • May 14, 2026

If he tried to drive with the vehicle like that, the trailer could swing out in either direction, posing incredible danger for anyone else on the road.

From Slate • May 13, 2026

Amazon introduced “Amazon Supply Chain Solutions,” posing a competitive threat to third-party logistics firms.

From Barron's • May 7, 2026

The White House is weighing a new government-review process for artificial-intelligence tools posing cybersecurity risks, prompted by Anthropic’s Mythos model.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026

There’s a picture of Ama—exactly how she looked in Asamando—in a kaba and slit, posing with someone who looks like an older version of me.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Related Words

• charade
• cloak
• pretext
• semblance
• veneer