posture
Americannoun
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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.
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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)
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postures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
postured,
past participle, past
-
posturing
present participle
-
to assume a particular posture.
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to assume affected or unnatural postures, as by bending or contorting the body.
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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
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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
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posturessimple
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have posturedperfect
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has posturedperfect
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am posturingprogressive
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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:
They help us carry shopping, lift objects and maintain posture, all of which support independence.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026
"The defensive posture I have gleaned from the DA's statements leads me to believe that they recognise that there were failures and they are trying to excuse them," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
Nevertheless, she remains strong, her erect posture evincing her self-confidence that she is more than capable of managing the difficult time ahead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Professional life is crowded with micro-signals — clothes, cups, phones, tone, timing, posture — ordinary things that remain perfectly neutral until someone decides they are evidence of character.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
The impression of added height was due to his parade-ground posture.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Fish seeking cleaning services often use predictable postures, such as headstands or tail stands.
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
Yu Ji’s cement sculptures take the shape of contorted human bodies—not uncomfortable but limberly twisted and folded—that are missing limbs; their contrasting materials and postures at once suggest permanence and evanescence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
In a transformation this fundamental, those defensive postures carry real costs.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 18, 2025
And although the characters were different in each picture, there was a dreary similarity about their postures.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
“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
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
However, the bulk of its forces are postured to deter North Korea on the divided and heavily armed peninsula, and its troops are overwhelmingly conscripts, reducing their availability for deployment far from home.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 13, 2023
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
Police union officials rebuked Mamdani over the comments, accusing him of activist posturing that puts officers in a bad position.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
There comes a time when one extols cinema’s virtues so fiercely that it feels like posturing.
From Salon ● Sep. 17, 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
I’m not afraid: That’s really all I wanted to be able to say, and to say it without posturing.
From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely
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.
