| 释义 |
attitude|ˈætɪtjuːd|
[a. F. attitude, ad. It. attitudine (1) fitness, adaptation, (2) disposedness, disposition, posture:—med.L. aptitūdin-em fittedness, fitness, n. of quality f. aptus fitted, fit: see aptitude. Originally a technical term of the Arts of Design, substituted for the earlier aptitude c 1710; thence extended into general use.]
1. In Fine Arts: The ‘disposition’ of a figure in statuary or painting; hence, the posture given to it. (Now merged in 2.)
1668J. E[velyn] tr. Freart's Perf. Peinture Advt., Though we retain the words, Action and Posture..the tearm Aptitude [F. attitude] is more expressive. And it were better to say the Disposition of a Dead Corps than the Posture of it, which seems a Tearm too gross; nor were it to speak like a Painter, to say, this Figure is in an handsome Posture, but in a graceful Disposition and Aptitude [F. attitude]. The Italians say Attitudine. 1686W. Aglionby Paint. Illustr. iii. 107 The Painter must also vary his Heads, his Bodies, his Aptitudes. 1695Dryden Dufresnoy's Art of Painting §4 The business of a painter in his choice of attitudes [Dufresn. posituræ]. 1705Addison Italy 340 The several Statues that we see with the same Air, Posture, and Aptitudes. 1718Prior Ded. Ld. Dorset, Bernini would have taken His Opinion upon the Beauty and Attitude of a Figure. 1721in Bailey. 1755in Johnson: the only sense.
2. a. A posture of the body proper to, or implying, some action or mental state assumed by human beings or animals. to strike an attitude: to assume it theatrically, and not as the unstudied expression of action or passion.
1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 153 He took the two men and put them in the same attitude. 1775Harris Philos. Arrangem. (1841) 346 These various positions peculiar to animal bodies, and to the human above the rest, (commonly known by the name of attitudes). 1832H. Martineau Each & All i. 4 She stood with her arms by her side in the attitude of waiting. 1862Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. vi. 121 He stands in the Oriental attitude of prayer. 1883J. Gilmour Mongols xviii. 211 You will find him..striking pious attitudes at every new object of reverence.
b. fig. Of inanimate things, conceptions, etc.
1744Akenside Pleas. Imag. i. 30 The gayest, happiest attitude of things. 1750Johnson Rambl. No. 96 ⁋10 To copy the mien and attitudes of Truth. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. i. iv, The remainder [of his sentences] are in quite angular attitudes, buttressed-up by props (of parentheses and dashes).
c. Aeronaut. (See quots.) Also attrib.
1910R. Ferris How it Flies 455 Attitude, the position of a plane as related to the line of its travel. 1914R. Engineers' Jrnl. Nov. 311 Attitude, an aeroplane's or wing's position relative to the direction of motion through the air. 1953Flight 17 July 78/2 The automatic pilot..applies control movements proportional to the attitude changes. 1962J. Glenn in Into Orbit 209 The capsule's attitude would have to be near-perfect when the rockets fired, or the angle of re-entry would be affected.
d. Dancing. A posture or disposition of the body; spec. a form of arabesque (see quot. 1957).
1721J. Weaver Lectures upon Dancing 137 Dancing is an elegant, and regular Movement, harmonically composed of beautiful Attitudes, and contrasted graceful Postures of the Body. Ibid. 145 Attitude is a Posture, or graceful Disposition of the Body, in Standing; Sitting; or Lying. 1830R. Barton tr. Blasis' Code of Terpsichore ii. v. 74 That particular position technically termed attitude is the most elegant, but at the same time the most difficult which dancing comprises. 1911[see arabesque n. 4]. 1922Beaumont & Idzikowski Man. Class. Theatr. Dancing 27 There are an infinite number of attitudes, so that they depend on the taste of the professor or chorégraphe. 1957G. B. L. Wilson Dict. Ballet 32 Attitude, position derived from the statue of Mercury by Giovanni da Bologna.
3. Settled behaviour or manner of acting, as representative of feeling or opinion.
1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. i. ii. II. 20 In the Senate house again, the attitude of the Right Side is that of calm unbelief. 1876Green Short Hist. vi. §2 (1882) 278 That the misrule had been serious was shown by the attitude of the commercial class.
4. a. attitude of mind: deliberately adopted, or habitual, mode of regarding the object of thought.
1862H. Spencer First Princ. i. i. §1. 4 Much depends on the attitude of mind we preserve while listening to, or taking part in, the controversy. 1832Trevelyan in Life Macaulay (1876) I. v. 254 With regard to our Eastern question the attitude of his own mind is depicted in the passage on Burke. 1881Athenæum No. 2811. 328/1 A necessary accompaniment of the allegorical attitude of the mind.
b. = attitude of mind above. Cf. senses 2 b, 3.
a1873Mill Three Ess. Relig. (1874) 126 Along with this change in the moral attitude of thoughtful unbelievers towards the religious ideas of mankind, a corresponding difference has manifested itself in their intellectual attitude. 1909Titchener Lectures Exper. Psychol. Thought-Processes iii. 112 Attitude, the background of meaning or reference against which a mental process is seen, may [etc.]. 1922H. E. Palmer Eng. Intonation p. viii, We all recognize immediately..each of the attitudes associated with the tones. 1937G. W. Allport Personality (1938) xi. 294 Both attitude and trait are indispensable concepts... Ordinarily attitude should be employed when the disposition is bound to an object or value, that is.., when it is aroused by a well-defined class of stimuli, and when the individual feels toward these stimuli a definite attraction or repulsion. 1941Punch 3 Sept. 203/1 The attitude of ordinary people..towards mathematics..may be summed up as the same as their attitude to the police force. 1948Krech & Crutchfield Theory & Probl. Social Psychol. v. 151 Many psychologists regard the study of attitudes as the central problem of social psychology. 1958G. J. Warnock Eng. Philos. since 1900 169 A marked capacity for abstract thought is compatible with an ‘attitude to life’ entirely ordinary, or even dull.
5. Lit. Criticism. spec. in the use of I. A. Richards, ‘the non-overt impulse to action involved in the poetic experience of the reader’.
1925I. A. Richards Princ. Lit. Crit. xv. 112 These imaginal and incipient activities or tendencies to action, I shall call attitudes. Ibid. xvi. 132 For it is the attitudes evoked which are the all-important part of any experience.
6. attrib. and Comb., as attitude measurement, attitude research, attitude scale, attitude study, attitude test, attitude theory; attitude-taking vbl. n.
1904W. James Mem. & Stud. (1911) vi. 140 Spencer's ‘Ethics’ is a most vital and original piece of attitude-taking in the world of ideals. 1929Thurstone & Chave Measurement of Attitude p. xii, The true allocation of an individual to a position on an attitude scale is an abstraction. Ibid. i. 1 (heading) Theory of attitude measurement. 1934Jrnl. Social Psychol. V. 387 The attitude test was administered again. 1935H. C. Warren Dict. Psychol. 24/1 Attitude scale, a scale for measuring degrees of attitude upon a particular question. 1940Mind XLIX. 228 In the Introduction Ross divides attempted definitions of ethical terms into ‘attitude-theories’ and ‘consequence-theories’. 1941Jrnl. Social Psychol. XIII. 429 (heading) On the use of certain qualitative methods of attitude research. 1958Listener 28 Aug. 308/3 All types of attitude-studies could contribute something. 1960Language & Speech III. 223 Attitude measurement..seemed a promising technique. Ibid., Osgood's semantic differential..was the attitude-measuring technique used in the experiment. 1960Times Rev. Industry Jan. 54/1 Attitude and motivation research assesses what qualities of the product give it its appeal to some consumers and not to others.
Sense 6 in Dict. becomes sense 7. Add: 6. a. Aggressive or uncooperative behaviour; a resentful or antagonistic manner. In phrs. to cop an attitude, to give attitude, etc., to assume such a manner. slang (orig. U.S.).
[1962Maurer & Vogel Narcotics & Narcotic Addiction (ed. 2) 289/2 (Gloss.) Attitude, hostile or aloof and uncooperative. 1974H. L. Foster Ribbin' iv. 169 Attitude, to get mad without a good reason.] 1975Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang Suppl. 673/2 Attitude,..a resentful, hostile manner, either toward people in general or toward a specific group. A person who ‘catches a quick attitude’ is one who is easily angered and ready to fight. Mostly black and prison use. 1980Washington Post 20 July h3/3 If they wanted to give me ‘attitude’ about being white, they really could–I'm the token minority in this cast. But the whole company has been really nice. 1982A. Maupin Further Tales of City 131 No one could resist the urge to clap along... ‘I like this,’ Michael told Bill. ‘Everybody's off guard. It's harder to give attitude.’ 1985Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 23 June 13/1, I can't believe this restaurant. I ask the waiter for a clean fork and all I get is attitude. 1985N.Y. Times 26 Oct. 31/4 If I'm out there for months with everybody yelling at me, I'm going to cop an attitude. 1990Lane & Andrews Malibu 90265 ii. 18 No wonder the saleswoman had an attitude... A zero had just dropped off the end of her commission. 1991Athlon's Baseball '91 IV. 25/1 Bonds developed what is called an attitude. Underneath it all he is a nice kid.
b. Hence, any highly independent or individual outlook, approach, appearance, etc.; self-possession; style, swagger, front; esp. in with (an) attitude. slang (orig. U.S.).
1975Rolling Stone 24 Apr. 52/1 Natty dreadlocks means hair with an attitude: kinky, jungle thick and matted into tortuous antibraids. 1986‘Prince’ Kiss (song) 6 You don't have 2 watch Dy-nas-ty 2 have an attitude. 1988Tower Records' Top Feb. 20/4 You got to go at the business with an attitude or you get nowhere. 1990Police Rev. 28 Sept. 1916/1 In this job, you gotta have attitude, hang loose, ready for anything. 1992Face Feb. 44/1 The not-entirely-unattractive cast—spearheaded by Jason Priestley and Luke Perry as hunks with not much attitude Brandon and Dylan—set a good few pulses racing and hogged the covers of the nation's teen press.
[7.] attitude problem.
1977Washington Post 3 Aug. d3/2 No one will argue with Anderson about early *attitude problems. But Rawly Eastwick..says there's more to it than that. 1992Spy Mar. 55 The more cozily bourgeois a culture becomes, the more its citizenry admires the wary iconoclast, the individual with an ‘attitude problem’, the bad boy. |