APLAC Tone Words

Ambivalent

Exhibiting opposing attitudes or feelings simultaneously.

Caustic

Harshly, bitterly critical or sarcastic.

Didactic

Morally instructive.

Disingenuous

Putting on a false show of sincerity or candidness; feigning naiveté.

Dour

Gloomy, stern, or forbidding.

Earnest

Sincere or serious.

Elegiac

Mourning or commemorating something lost.

Emphatic

Forceful and definite.

Facetious/Flippant

Humorous or playful, often to a disrespectful extent.

Idyllic

Carefree.

Laudatory

Expressing or conferring praise.

Lyrical

Expressing deep personal emotion.

Macabre

Gruesome or disturbing, esp. associated with death or violence.

Maudlin

Effusively or insincerely emotional.

Morose

Sullen and ill-tempered.

Nonchalant

Coolly unconcerned; indifferent.

Objective

Unbiased; impartial; without prejudice.

Ominous

Portending or suggesting evil in the future.

Pedantic

Detail-obsessed.

Poignant

Deeply moving, emotionally touching.

Resigned

Accepting something as inevitable.

Sanctimonious

Showing false piety or holiness.

Sardonic

Scornfully mocking.

Scathing

Harshly and earnestly critical; denunciatory; 'caustic' without the sarcasm.

Vitriolic

Caustic, bitter, or blisteringly critical.

Wistful

Full of wishful yearning; pensively sad.

Wry

Characterized by dry, ironic humor.