posture
/ˈpɒstʃə
/noun
1A particular position of the body: I got out of the car in an alert posture...
- Looking down, Wil could see her squirming to regain her posture / bearing/position/stance.
- The 22 caribou at Chariot were found dead in a curled posture or ‘sleeping position.’
- Casey nodded quickly, and instantly assumed a good posture for her position: eyes lowered, but not down, and her head erect.
Synonyms
position, pose, attitude, stance
1.1The characteristic way in which someone holds their body when standing or sitting: he took ballet lessons to improve his posture...
- Here's one stretch you can do that will help to strengthen your lower abs and improve your sitting and standing posture.
- The rods are rigid and the portion of the spine that is fused underneath the rods will be rigid and help improve your sitting posture.
- The physical exertion and sometimes intense stretching of the standing postures has prepared the body to be able to get maximum benefit from the floor series, most of which focus on the spine.
Synonyms
bearing, carriage, comportment, way of standing/sitting, stance;
British deportment
1.2 Zoology A particular pose adopted by a bird or other animal, interpreted as a signal of a specific pattern of behaviour: the snake inverts itself into the mock-dead posture...
- Most anurans have external fertilization, and adopt a mating posture called amplexus to insure contact between eggs and sperm.
- Fillies began ovulating and advertising estrus by adopting a distinctive posture between one and two years of age.
- Mounts were posed in an aggressive posture with wings drooped, tail fanned and beak slightly open, as though they were singing.
2A particular approach or attitude: trade unions adopted a more militant posture in wage negotiations...
- Even before he moves I know how it's going to happen, I've read their postures and attitudes and I already have it planned.
- Skepticism is a method of inquiry primarily, not an attitude or posture or philosophical viewpoint that denies entities or phenomena out of hand.
- Arms-length disengagement or a perpetual posture of ‘standing ready to help’ is now woefully inadequate.
Synonyms
attitude, stance, stand, standpoint, view, point of view, viewpoint, opinion, position, way of thinking, frame of mind, outlook, angle, slant, perspective
2.1A way of behaving that is intended to convey a false impression; a pose: despite pulling back its missiles, the government maintained a defiant posture for home consumption...
- The posture is somehow defiant, although her expression is anything but.
- The premise behind this official posture of neutrality is false.
- But the poses - however exquisitely they were realised - seemed just that: self-conscious postures, tasteful concoctions.
verb
1 [no object] (often as noun posturing) Behave in a way that is intended to impress or mislead: a masking of fear with macho posturing...
- I find the only way to challenge the chauvinism, sexism, sexual innuendo and macho posturing there, is to be more rude and more graphic than the guys.
- Many people were disquieted about the macho posturing about the fire-fighters.
- Unity, when it comes naturally, would be of far more value to the Party and the country as a whole, if it is meaningful and not simply posturing to impress the masses.
Synonyms
pose, strike an attitude, put on airs, attitudinize, behave affectedly, strut
informal show off
North American informal cop an attitude, hot-dog
1.1 [with object] Adopt (a particular attitude) so as to impress or mislead: the companies may posture regret, but they have a vested interest in increasing Third World sales...
- The film's web site is remarkably preachy, posturing the movie as a landmark in the battle against sexual harassment.
- The Army Campaign Plan provides the necessary strategic vision and direction to execute today's missions while posturing the Army for the future.
- I wondered if she was posturing herself like that on purpose.
2 [with object and adverbial] archaic Place (someone) in a particular attitude or pose: and still these two were postured motionless...
- In a rarely seen move, she postures the father with his back to the audience as soon as the diplomat proposes the arrangement.
Derivatives
postural
- It teaches you how to breathe efficiently, how to recruit your postural muscles (the deep ones which surround the skeleton) and can change the way you move by creating a balanced body.
- Most symptoms can be controlled by relaxation techniques, and in the case of postural or other physical problems, a physiotherapist can provide appropriate treatment.
- Left unaddressed, this can cause postural problems.
posturer
- The new president could hardly be described as a swaggerer or a posturer, and he won't be making any idle threats about strike action.
- Having the confidence not to talk down, or disguise his middle-class culture, meant he was in turn regarded as far more ‘of the people’ than many posturers from poorer backgrounds.
- Africa has long been saddled with poor, even malevolent, leadership: predatory kleptocrats, military-installed autocrats, economic illiterates, and puffed-up posturers.
Origin
Late 16th century (denoting the relative position of one thing to another): from French, from Italian postura, from Latin positura 'position', from posit- 'placed', from the verb ponere.
Rhymes
- proheterocyst
- prohibit
- prohibited
- prohibited area
- prohibited degrees
- prohibiter
- prohibition
- prohibitionary
- prohibitionism
- Prohibitionist
- prohibition party
- prohibition state
- prohibitive
- prohibitively
- prohibitiveness
- prohibitor
- prohibitorily
- prohibitory
- prohormone
- pro indiviso
- pro-inflammatory
- proing
- proinsulin
- project
- projectedly