tone words 1-100

this took me an hour

abhorrent

disgusting; loathsome; repellent/ feeling repugnance or loathing

admonitory

cautionary; warning

apathetic

feeling or showing little or no emotion/ uninterested; listless; passive; indifferent

acerbic

harsh or severe; caustic; vitriolic

audacious

fearlessly daring; bold; lacking restraint or circumspection; arrogantly insolent

baffled

puzzled; confounded; bewildered

banal

repeating a worn-out convention or type; unaffecting and drearily predictable; trite; ordinary, boring, commonplace; mundane; pedestrian

bantering

good humored teasing; playful repartee; to tease or mock gently; badinage

benevolent

characterized by benevolence; kindly; of or concerned with charity; altruistic; magnanimous

bombastic

pompous; grandiloquent (in regard to one’s speech)

bucolic

of or characteristic of the countryside; peaceful or serene

ceremonial

of or characterized by ceremony; formal; ritual; worthy of respect

cynical

scornful of the motives or virtue of others; skeptical; doubtful

clinical

pertaining to or connected with a clinic; pertaining to direct observation and treatment of patients; objective, detached

condescending

to come down voluntarily to the level of inferiors with whom one is dealing; deign; to deal with people in a patronizing manner; patronizing, belittling

condemning

expressing disapproval of; censuring; criticizing; to pronounce judgment against; to sentence; to doom

comtemptuous

to look down upon with haughtiness; scornful; disdainful

contentious

argumentative; quarrelsome; belligerent; bellicose; fractious

dogmatic

characterized by an authoritative, arrogant assertion of unproved or improvable principles

derisive

mocking; scoffing

desultory

moving or jumping from one thing to another; disconnected; rambling; occurring haphazardly; random

detached

emotionally disconnected; similar to clinical or object in tone

didactic

intended to instruct; expository; morally instructive

disbelieving

to refuse to believe in; reject; incredulous

disparaging

to belittle; slight; to reduce in esteem or rank; condescending; patronizing

elegiac

pertaining to an elegy; expressing sorrow; mournful; plaintive

elitist

a sense of being part of a superior or privileged group; arrogant; pompous; haughty

eloquent

persuasive, fluent and graceful in discourse highly; vividly or movingly expressive of an emotion

embittered

to be filled with bitterness or resentment; hostile. One can also embitter or fill with bitterness

erudite

deeply learned; scholarly; intellectual

facetious

playful; humorous; flippant; sarcastic (associated with satire)

farcical

pertaining to farce; ludicrous; absurd

fatalistic

the doctrine that all events are predetermined by fate and therefore unalterable by man; submission to fate; resigned

flippant

marked by disrespectful levity; sarcastic; not showing a serious or respectful attitude

foreboding

a dark sense of impending evil; ominous; premonitory; portentous

frivolous

unworthy of serious attention; insignificant; trivial

galling

causing acute irritation, exasperation , discomfort or disgust; inflammatory

giddy

playfully silly

glib

superficial; insincere; slick or smooth talking

iconoclastic

characterized by attacks on cherished beliefs or institutions; irreverent; heretical

incredulous

disbelieving; skeptical; expressing disbelief

indifferent

characterized by a lack of partiality or bias; not mattering one way or the other; of no great importance; insignificant

indignant

taking great offense to a moral basis

inflammatory

arousing strong emotion

insolent

presumptuous and insulting in manner or speech; arrogant; haughty disrespect

introspective

given to private thought; contemplative; reflective

ironic

the opposite of what is expected to happen

irreverent

lacking in reverence; disrespectful; iconoclastic; sacrilegious

lackadaisical

lacking spirit or interest; languid; indifferent; apathetic

lambasting

to give a thrashing; whip; beat; to scold sharply; berate

laudatory

including, expressing or bestowing praise; revering; applause; venerating

learned

having or demonstrating profound knowledge or scholarship; erudite; scholarly

loathing

strong dislike or disgust; intense aversion; abhorrence

lugubrious

mournful or doleful, especially to a ludicrous degree

matter of fact

pertaining to or adhering to facts; literal; objective; detached; clinical

meditative

directed to, characterized by, or expressing meditation; reflective; introspective

melancholy

sadness or depression of the spirits; gloom; pensive reflection or contemplation; solemn; somber; lachrymose

mocking

to treat with scorn or contempt; deride; ridicule; to mimic, as in derision

mock-serious

characterized by pretended seriousness; often creates and ironic, whimsical, or humorous tone

mournful

feeling or expressing grief; doleful; lamenting; forlorn; elegiac; melancholy

nostalgic

a longing for things, persons or situations tied to the past; sentimental

objective

not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts; disinterested; fair-minded; even-handed

patronizing

displaying or indicative of an offensively condescending manner; snobbish

pedantic

one who pays undue attention to book learning and formal rules without having an understanding or experience; ostentatious in one's learning

piquant

pleasantly stimulating or exciting to the mind; stimulating; thought-provoking.; intriguing

plaintive

expressing sorrow; mournful; melancholy

poignant

affecting or moving the emotions; emotionally moving/touching

pompous

characterized by an exaggerated show of dignity or self importance; pretentious

pretentious

attempting to impress by affecting greater importance than is actually possessed

prosaic

commonplace or dull; matter-of-fact or unimaginative; banal; insipid; pedestrian

provincial

having or showing the manners or viewpoints considered characteristic of unsophisticated inhabitants of a province; rustic; narrow or illiberal; parochial

provocative

tending to anger or exasperate; exciting; stimulating; arousing

puritanical

rigorous in religious observance; marked by stern morality; austere; uptight

reflective

given to, marked by, or concerned with meditation or deliberation

reminiscent

awakening memories of something similar; suggestive

repressive

to keep under control; puritanical; maintaining order; quelling or putting down rebellion or disorder

resigned

feeling or marked by acceptance; acquiescent; unresisting

restrained

keep in check or under control; repress

reverent

showing profound veneration and respect

sanctimonious

exhibiting an attitude of superior virtue, smug and self-righteousness; holier than thou

sardonic

scornful; mocking; cynical

satiric

of or pertaining to, containing, or characterized by satire; sardonic and ironical

sentimental

expressive of or appealing to sentiment; weakly emotional; mawkishly susceptible or tender

scornful

full of contempt or disdain, as felt toward a person or object considered despicable or inferior

seductive

tending to seduce or tempt toward sex or immoral action; alluring; beguiling; coquettish; piquant

serene

unruffled; tranquil; dignified; placid

sneering

speaking in a contemptuous or mocking manner

sober

marked by seriousness or gravity; solemn

solemn

deeply earnest; serious; grave

somber

dark, gloomy, lugubrious

soporific

tending to induce sleep; somniferous; calming; deadening; hypnotizing

supercilious

characterized by haughty scorn; disdainful; haughtily contemptuous

sympathetic

of expressing feeling resulting from sympathy; compassionate

taunting

to provoke or challenge (someone) with insulting remarks; mock; jeer at

tounge in cheek

meant or expressed ironically or facetiously

trite

overused and commonplace; lacking interest or originality; prosaic; banal; clichéd

urbane

having or showing the refined manners of polite society; elegant; sophisticated; polished; proper

vexed

irritated; annoyed; troubled

whimsical

capricious; playful; arbitrary

zealous

filled with or motivated by zeal; ardent; enthusiastic; fervent