attitude

Less common meanings

5. 5
   ballet posenouncountable

   A ballet position much like an arabesque, except the raised leg is bent at the knee rather than held straight.

   The ballerina extended into an attitude, her back leg curved high behind her.

   He practiced his attitude until the bent knee stayed level with his hip.

   Note

   A ballet term, traditionally said to take its shape from Giambologna's statue of Mercury, poised with one leg lifted and bent. Gayle Kassing's History of Dance (2007) credits Blasis with inventing "the ballet position of attitude." That phrasing shows how dancers use the word. It can be counted like any step (an attitude, several attitudes), or it can stand without an article as the name of the position itself. Source

   Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • The ballet position is traditionally associated with Giambologna's Mercury. en.wikipedia.org
   • Mercury is depicted with one leg raised and bent. en.wikipedia.org
   • Gayle Kassing's History of Dance was published in 2007. humankinetics.com
   • Kassing credits Blasis with inventing the position and uses the quoted wording. en.wiktionary.org
6. 6
   set positionverbtransitive

   To set oneself or an object into a specific position or orientation, or to strike a pose.

   The attituded control gyro package, electronics, APS gas supply, and the preentry electronics are mounted internally, and are distributed circumferentially at the major ring.

   1971, Advances in Astronautical Sciences, American Astronautical Society

   Similarorient, position, pose

   Note

   A verb made from the noun and met mostly as the past participle attituded. Nineteenth-century writers used it for figures arranged as if for a picture: in Felix M'Donogh's The Hermit Abroad (1823), nymphs of quality are "attituded about her", and William E. Burton's Gentleman's Magazine (1837) has a figure "attituded like an inspired curling-tongs". Pose is the everyday verb for the same act. Source

   Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • Felix M'Donogh wrote The Hermit Abroad, first published in 1823. romtext.org.uk
   • The Hermit Abroad describes nymphs of quality as 'attituded about her'. en.wiktionary.org
   • The Gentleman's Magazine was associated with William E. Burton and began publication in 1837. en.wikipedia.org
   • The magazine's 1837 volume contains the quoted description of a figure. en.wiktionary.org
7. 7
   verbcolloquialintransitive

   To express a mood or disposition through one's posture, bearing, tone of voice, and similar signals.

   Some kids attitude their way through every class, slouched low and answering in single words.

   She was all attituded up the moment I mentioned her curfew.

   Note

   Swagger turned into a verb. It usually carries the defiant edge of the "bad behavior" meaning rather than a neutral mood, and it belongs to casual speech.