tone vocab list

audacious

1.) Very confident and daring, perhaps recklessly so; 2.) Original and bold; 3) Contemptuous of law, religion, or decorum

Bitter

Exhibiting strong animosity as a result of pain or grief

Caustic

Intense use of sarcasm; stinging or biting (inducing emotional pain)

Contemplative:

Studying, thinking, reflecting on an issue

Detached

1) not involved in or lacking emotional interest in; unsociable, distant; 2) free from prejudice; objective

forthright

Directly frank without hesitation (frank \= open, honest, candid)

foreboding

With fearful apprehension

whimsical

Odd, strange, fantastic; fun

hostile

Unfriendly, antagonistic

Indignant

Marked by anger aroused by injustice

unnerving

Causing one to become nervous, afraid, upset, unable to think clearly

Taunting

Sarcastically challenging or insulting

Ironic

Marked by usage of words that mean the opposite of what you really think/feel in order to be funny or deceptive/manipulative

sanguinious

Optimistic and cheerful

Irreverent

Having or showing a lack of respect for something or someone that is usually treated with respect; satiric

Jovial

Happy

Satric

Ridiculing to show weakness in order to make a point, teach

Sardonic

Scornfully and bitterly sarcastic

Malevolent

Having or showing a desire to harm another; arising from intense and vicious ill will, spite, or hatred; malicious

Objective

An unbiased view; able to leave personal judgments aside

Ominous

Suggestive that bad things will come; foreboding of evil; inauspicious; portentous

Apathetic

Indifferent due to lack of energy or concern

Compassionate

Sympathetic and showing concern for others

Disdainful

Scornful, feeling or belief that something or someone is worthless or despicable

Facetious

Treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant

Funereal

Having the mournful, somber character of a funeral; sepulchral; gloomy

Hyperbolic

With exaggeration, marked in its heavy overstatement

Insipid

Not interesting or exciting; dull or boring

Insolent

Rude or impolite; showing disregard for people

Lamentable

Mournful; marked by regret

Lugubrious

Full of sorrow or sadness; sad in an exaggerated or insincere manner

Melancholic

Sorrowful

Melodramatic

Emotional or dramatic in a way that is very extreme or exaggerated

Nostalgic

Pleasure and sadness that is caused by remembering something from the past and wishing you could experience it again

Ostentatious

Displaying knowledge or wealth that is meant to attract attention, admiration, or envy

Pedantic

1) Unimaginative and dull; 2) Narrowly or stodgily (very old-fashioned) or often very ostentatiously learned

Pretentious

Having or showing the unpleasant quality of people who want to be regarded as more impressive, successful, or important than they really are

Remorseful

Regretful; penitent; contrite

Reverent

Treating a subject with honor and respect

Sentimental

1) Weakly emotional; 2) expressive of tender emotions, such as nostalgia, love, pity

Wry

Slightly sarcastic in a humorous way; clever with a bit of irony

Austere

Grave, serious, sober (sober \= serious or solemn)

Bantering

Playful or witty

Callous

Unfeeling, insensitive to the feelings of others

Condescending

Possessing a feeling of superiority

Cynical

Questioning the basic sincerity and goodness of people

Derisive

ridiculing, mocking often with contempt or disdain

Elegiac

Mournful, lamenting, sorrowful

Frivolous

Superficial, without serious purpose or value, silly, giddy

Haughty

Proud and vain to the point of arrogance

Hollow

Meaningless, without significance, empty

Lyrical

Expressing a poet's inner feelings; emotional; song-like

Morose

Gloomy, sullen, surly, despondent

Obsequious

Polite and obedient in order to gain something

Oppressive

Overwhelming or depressive to the spirit or senses; unreasonably burdensome or sever

Petulant

Ill-humored; showing sudden, impatient irritation especially over something trivial

Poignant

1. Painfully affecting the feelings; emotionally cutting, piercing, touching; 2. designed to make an impression

Quizzical

Odd, eccentric, comical: expressing puzzlement or disbelief

Sinister

Threatens to be harmful, evil, or just plain trouble; wicked

Vexed

Annoyed or worried

Woeful

Wretched (in quality); unhappy, anguished

Benevolent

Suggestive of goodwill, kindness, generosity

Bombastic

speech or writing meant to sound important or impressive but which is not meaningful or sincere; pompous; pretentious

Burlesque

Involving ludicrous or mocking treatment of a solemn subject

Didactic

Speaker or author attempts to educate or instruct the reader

Earnest

Intense, sincere state of mind

Effusive

Expressing feelings of gratitude, approval, or pleasure in an unrestrained or heartfelt manner

Erudite

Learned, polished, scholarly

Learned

Scholarly; erudite

Moralistic

Characterized by strong feelings of what is right and what is wrong; can be narrow sense of morality (comes off as judgmental)

Patronizing

With an air of condescension

Ribald

Offensive in speech or gesture

Romantic

Fanciful, impractical, unrealistic, dominated by idealism

Self-Righteous

Narrow-mindedly moralistic; Having or showing a strong belief that your beliefs and actions or opinions are right or other peoples are wrong