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pos·ture (p s ch r)n.1. a. A position of the body or of body parts: a sitting posture. b. An attitude; a pose: assumed a posture of angry defiance. 2. A characteristic way of bearing one's body; carriage: stood with good posture. 3. Relative placement or arrangement: the posture of the buildings on the land. 4. A stance or disposition with regard to something: "Those bases are essential to our military posture in the Middle East" (Gerard Smith). 5. A frame of mind affecting one's thoughts or behavior; an overall attitude. v. pos·tured, pos·tur·ing, pos·tures v.intr.1. To assume an exaggerated or unnatural pose or mental attitude; attitudinize. 2. To assume a pose. v.tr. To put into a specific posture; pose.
[French, from Italian postura, from Latin posit ra, position, from positus, past participle of p nere, to place; see apo- in Indo-European roots.]
pos tur·al adj. pos tur·er, pos tur·ist n. Synonyms: posture, attitude, carriage, pose1, stance These nouns denote a position of the body and limbs: erect posture; an attitude of prayer; dignified carriage; a defiant pose; an athlete's alert stance. |
posture [ˈpɒstʃə]n1. a position or attitude of the limbs or body 2. a characteristic manner of bearing the body; carriage to have good posture 3. the disposition of the parts of a visible object 4. a mental attitude or frame of mind 5. a state, situation, or condition 6. a false or affected attitude; pose vb1. to assume or cause to assume a bodily position or attitude 2. (intr) to assume an affected or unnatural bodily or mental posture; pose [via French from Italian postura, from Latin positūra, from pōnere to place] postural adj posturer n Posture See Also: BEARING, BENT, STRAIGHTNESS - Arched like a cavalry horse getting a whiff of the battlefield —Katherine Anne Porter
- A back like a marine drill instructor’s … straight as a rifle shot —Loren D. Estleman
- Bolt upright like drawn bayonets —Aharon Megged
- Erect as a candle —Isak Dinesen
Dinesen used this simile in a short story, The de Cats Family. Because many a simile is hard to establish as one writer’s creative invention, it should come as no surprise that it also appeared in Ignazio Silone’s novel, The Secret of Luca. - Erect as a cavalry officer —Francine du Plessis Gray
- Erect as a Grecian pillar —Anon
- Held his shoulders back as though they were braced, and he sucked in his stomach like a soldier —John Steinbeck
- Her back is curved like a shell —Louise Erdrich
- Her entire posture seemed to have bunched up like a fist —Robert B. Parker
- Her spine droops like a dying daisy —Ira Wood
- Huddled up like a pale misshapen piece of pastry —Hugh Walpole
- Hunched his shoulders like a fighter tensing for a blow —Harvey Swados
- Hunched like a cowboy that hears a rattler —Paul Theroux
Theroux’s simile was particularly apt for the photographer-heroine of his novel, Picture Palace. - Hunched, like a man made lintel-shy by too many cracks on the head through adolescence —Harold Adams
- Hunched over like an old turtle —Louise Erdrich
- (Sit …) hunched up like a crow —Elizabeth Spencer
- Like a schoolmistress dealing with problem pupils, sat straight-backed —Dorothea Straus
- Posture … like an emaciated old man who once had been an athlete —Kenzaburo Oë
- Posture … rigid and stylized as a pair of bookends —George Garrett
- Rigid as an effigy —Gavin Lambert
See Also: FIRMNESS - (A sort of) savage stoop, like a bull lowering his horn —G. K. Chesterton
- Shoulders humped like a bull’s —Mary Hedin
- Shoulders sagged like empty sacks —James Crumley
- Shoulders … set like those of a man carrying a banner —Hugh Walpole
- Sits back, relaxed, as if she were watching an invisible TV and weeping over a soap opera —John J. Clayton
- Slumped like a chimpanzee —Mary Morris
- Slumped there like a bag of bones —Beryl Bainbridge
- Slump … like rags —Karl Shapiro
- Slumps there like an outsized parenthesis —Marge Piercy
- Standing to attention like a dead centurion at his post —John Le Carré
- Stands stiff as a bobby when the Queen appears —Maxine Kumin
- Stands tall, straight and stern as an angel —Louise Erdrich
- Stiff-backed as a cadet —George Garrett
- Stood like a dart —Brian Merriman
- Stood rigid as a carving —Madison Smartt Bell
- Stood stiff as a marble statue —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Stood up very straight like somebody in opera —Rebecca West
- Stooped, as though half-crouching under an expected blow —Ben Ames Williams
- Stooped like too tall visitors to an igloo —John Irving
- Stooping like a decayed tree, he was so old —A. E. Coppard
- Straightened like soldiers under review —Jay Parini
- Tilted forward at the waist like a stickshift in third gear —Rick Borsten
- Upright as a palm tree —The Holy Bible/Proverbs
Variations of this biblical simile link uprightness with a variety of other trees; for example, “Upright as a pine.” - Upright like stalks —Aharon Megged
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms | Noun | 1. | posture - the arrangement of the body and its limbs; "he assumed an attitude of surrender"order arms - a position in the manual of arms; the rifle is held vertically on the right side with the butt on the ground; often used as a command ballet position - classical position of the body and especially the feet in ballet decubitus - a reclining position (as in a bed) eversion - the position of being turned outward; "the eversion of the foot" lithotomy position - a position lying on your back with knees bent and thighs apart; assumed for vaginal or rectal examination lotus position - a sitting position with the legs crossed; used in yoga missionary position - a position for sexual intercourse; a man and woman lie facing each other with the man on top; so-called because missionaries thought it the proper position for primitive peoples pose - a posture assumed by models for photographic or artistic purposes presentation - (obstetrics) position of the fetus in the uterus relative to the birth canal; "Cesarean sections are sometimes the result of abnormal presentations" ectopia - abnormal position of a part or organ (especially at the time of birth) asana - (Hinduism) a posture or manner of sitting (as in the practice of yoga) guard - a posture of defence in boxing or fencing; "keep your guard up" tuck - (sports) a bodily position adopted in some sports (such as diving or skiing) in which the knees are bent and the thighs are drawn close to the chest | | 2. | posture - characteristic way of bearing one's body; "stood with good posture"slouch - a stooping carriage in standing and walking | | 3. | posture - a rationalized mental attitudeattitude, mental attitude - a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings and values and dispositions to act in certain ways; "he had the attitude that work was fun" hard line - a firm and uncompromising stance or position; "the governor took a hard line on drugs" point of view, standpoint, viewpoint, stand - a mental position from which things are viewed; "we should consider this problem from the viewpoint of the Russians"; "teaching history gave him a special point of view toward current events" | | 4. | posture - capability in terms of personnel and materiel that affect the capacity to fight a war; "we faced an army of great strength"; "politicians have neglected our military posture"capability, capableness - the quality of being capable -- physically or intellectually or legally; "he worked to the limits of his capability" firepower - (military) the relative capacity for delivering fire on a target | | Verb | 1. | posture - behave affectedly or unnaturally in order to impress others; "Don't pay any attention to him--he is always posing to impress his peers!"; "She postured and made a total fool of herself"deport, comport, acquit, behave, conduct, bear, carry - behave in a certain manner; "She carried herself well"; "he bore himself with dignity"; "They conducted themselves well during these difficult times" | | 2. | posture - assume a posture as for artistic purposes; "We don't know the woman who posed for Leonardo so often"artistic creation, artistic production, art - the creation of beautiful or significant things; "art does not need to be innovative to be good"; "I was never any good at art"; "he said that architecture is the art of wasting space beautifully" display, exhibit, expose - to show, make visible or apparent; "The Metropolitan Museum is exhibiting Goya's works this month"; "Why don't you show your nice legs and wear shorter skirts?"; "National leaders will have to display the highest skills of statesmanship" ramp - be rampant; "the lion is rampant in this heraldic depiction" |
postureverb show off (informal), pose, affect, hot-dog (chiefly U.S.), make a show, showboat, put on airs, try to attract attention, attitudinize, do something for effect Rock stars sneered, postured and leaped on the TV screen.
Translations posturen posture [ˈpostʃə]1 the way in which a person places or holds his body when standing, sitting, walking etc Good posture is important for a dancer. postuur وِقْفَه أو مِشْيَه أو جِلْسَه، وضْع стойка držení těla holdning die Haltung στάση, παράστημα postura rüht طرز قرارگیری بدن ryhti posture יְצִיבָה मुद्रा, भंगिमा držanje (tijela) testtartás postur (líkams)staða, stelling postura 姿勢 몸의 자세 laikysena stāja postur lichaamshouding kroppsholdning postawa postura ţinută осанка držanie tela drža držanje hållning การวางท่า duruş, poz 姿勢 положення; постава وضع، طرز dáng điệu 姿势
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