attitudinize
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Italian attitudine + -ize.
Verb
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- (intransitive) To assume an affected, unnatural exaggerated attitude or pose.
- 1809, Hannah More, Cœlebs in Search of a Wife, The Works of Hannah More, London: T. Cadell, 1830, Volume VII, Chapter 9, p. 73,[1]
- Charlotte, who has the best voice, was brought out to sing, but was placed a little behind, as her person is not quite perfect; Maria, who is the most picturesque figure, was put to attitudinise at the harp […]
- 1880, Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad, Hartford: American Publishing Company, Chapter 19, p. 183,[2]
- I was the only one of our party who saw this grand sight; the others were attitudinizing, for the benefit of the long rank of young ladies who were promenading on the bank, and so they lost it.
- 1953, Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye, New York: Ballantine, 1971, Chapter 14, p. 87,[3]
- “That mean anything to you, Mrs Wade?”
- “Just attitudinizing. He has always been a great admirer of Scott Fitzgerald.”
- 1809, Hannah More, Cœlebs in Search of a Wife, The Works of Hannah More, London: T. Cadell, 1830, Volume VII, Chapter 9, p. 73,[1]
- (transitive) To cause to assume a pose.
- 1951, Hortense Calisher, “In Greenwich There Are Many Gravelled Walks” in Mid-Century: An Anthology of Distinguished Contemporary American Short Stories, New York: Washington Square Press, 1958, p. 181,[4]
- In Greenwich, there were many gravelled walks, unshrubbed except for the nurses who dotted them, silent and attitudinized as trees.
- 1951, Hortense Calisher, “In Greenwich There Are Many Gravelled Walks” in Mid-Century: An Anthology of Distinguished Contemporary American Short Stories, New York: Washington Square Press, 1958, p. 181,[4]
- (transitive) To give the appearance of, make a show of by posing.
- 1901, Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford, The Inheritors, London: Heinemann, Chapter Eleven, p. 178,[5]
- Radet was a cadaverous, weather-worn, passion-worn individual, badger-grey, and worked up into a grotesquely attitudinised fury of injured self-esteem
- 1924, Gilbert Frankau, Gerald Cranston’s Lady, Toronto: F.D. Goodchild, Chapter 5,[6]
- While she, one hand on his arm, had been attitudinizing her dutiful gratitude, he—as she suddenly realized—had been deciding to rid her of Fordham.
- 1901, Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford, The Inheritors, London: Heinemann, Chapter Eleven, p. 178,[5]
Synonyms
Related terms
Translations
to assume an affected, unnatural exaggerated attitude
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to cause to assume a pose
to give the appearance of
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