AP LANG Tone Words

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Abhorring

detesting, loathing

Abstruse

difficult to understand

Acerbic

harsh or severe

Admonishing

cautioning, advising, or counseling against something

Ambivalent

uncertainty or fluctuation between two choices

Ardent

characterized by intense feeling of devotion

Authoritarian

accustomed to exercising authority; dictatorial

Belligerent

warlike

Bemused

bewildered or confused

Benevolent

characterized by goodwill

Blithe

joyous, cheerful

Brusque

abrupt, blunt

Burlesque

comic vulgarization or lofty material or treatment of ordinary material with mock dignity

Capricious

flighty, erratic

Caustic

biting, corrosive

Censorious

severely critical

Choleric

irritable, easily angered

Complimentary

flattering

Conciliatory

appeasing, overcoming the distrust of

Condemnatory

expressing strong disapproval

Contemptuous

disdainful, scornful

Contentious

quarrelsome, causing controversy

Curt

rudely brief or abrupt

Derisive

contemptuous, mocking

Despairing

overcome with futility or defeat

Didactic

intended for instruction

Diffident

lacking confidence, timid

Dogmatic

arrogantly opinionated

Domineering

overbearing, tyrannical

Dubious

wavering or hesitating in opinion

Ebullient

overflowing with fervor; high

Effusive

demonstrative, lacking reserve

Elegiac

expressing sorrow or lamentation

Eloquent

using fluent and forceful speech

Erudite

learned or scholarly

Eulogistic

praising highly, especially in a formal eulogy

Euphoric

feeling of happiness that may border on mania

Exhortatory

advising, urging, or cautioning earnestly

Facetious

not meant to be taken literally

Farcical

ludicrous, absurd, mocking

Fatalistic

acceptance of all things as inevitable

Flippant

frivolously disrespectful

Forthright

going straight to the point

Frivolous

characterized by lack of seriousness; self

Ghoulish

delighting in the revolting or loathsome

Haughty

disdainfully proud, snobbish

Histrionic

over

Holier

than

Impassive

without emotion, apathetic

Incisive

penetrating, cutting, biting, keen

Incredulous

skeptical, not believing

Indignant

characterized by strong displeasure at something considered offensive or insulting

Insipid

uninteresting, vapid

Irascible

easily provoked to anger

Irreverent

showing lack of due respect

Jocund

cheerful, merry

Jovial

hearty, joyous

Laudatory

expressing praise

Lofty

exalted in rank, dignity, or character

Ludicrous

causing laughter because of absurdity

Lugubrious

mournful, gloomy (esp. in an exaggerated manner)

Lyrical

expressing deep personal emotion

Meditative

deeply or seriously thoughtful

Melancholic

characterized by or causing sadness

Mirthful

joyous, jolly

Moralistic

concerned with conventional morals

Nonchalant

unconcerned or indifferent

Nonplussed

puzzled, perplexed

Obdurate

unyielding, stubbornly resistant to moral influence

Obsequious

overly obedient

Ominous

foreboding, threatening

Patronizing

indicative of an offensively condescending manner

Penitent

expressing sorrow for wrongdoing, repentant

Poignant

keen or strong in mental appeal

Recalcitrant

resisting authority or control

Reticent

reserved, restrained

Risible

laughable, ludicrous

Supercilious

haughtily disdainful or contemptuous

Terse

concise, brief

Timorous

fearful

Vindictive

revengeful, spiteful

Vitriolic

caustic, scathing

Wistful

characterized by melancholy, longing

Wry

devious; bitterly or disdainfully ironic or amusing