AP Lang Style & Tone Words (Category 1)

Artificial

Naturally produced by human skill and labor, often as a copy of something natural; not genuine or sincere in behavior, thereby appearing fake or an imitation.

Bombastic

Characterized by speech or writing that is ostentatiously lofty and verbose, often exaggerated in importance through artificial or empty means; pompous and overblown.

Colloquial

Characteristic of or used in familiar, informal conversation rather than formal speech or writing; conversational.

Concrete

Constituting an actual thing or instance; characterized by or belonging to immediate experience of actual things or events, rather than abstract concepts; specific and particular.

Connotative

Referring to something suggested by a word or thing in addition to its literal or primary meaning; an implication or an associated idea.

Cultured

Possessing or exhibiting refinement, good education, manners, and taste; cultivated in an intellectual or artistic sense.

Detached

Exhibiting an aloof objectivity, usually free from prejudice or self-interest; emotionally separate or unconnected.

Emotional

Markedly aroused or agitated in feeling or sensibilities; relating to or characterized by strong feelings rather than reason.

Esoteric

Designed for or understood by only a small number of people with specialized knowledge or interest; private and confidential.

Euphemistic

Characterized by euphemism, which is the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant; referred to in a mild or indirect way.

Exact

Precisely accurate and correct in every detail; rigorously strict and complete.

Figurative

Expressing one thing in terms normally denoting another, with which it may be regarded as analogous; involving a figure of speech, thereby being metaphorical rather than literal.

Formal

Following or according with established form, custom, or rule; pertaining to official or ceremonious adherence to standards, often in speech or writing.

Grotesque

Departing markedly from the natural, the expected, or the typical, often in a ludicrously or shockingly ugly, strange, or distorted way.

Homespun

Spun or made at home; characterized by a simple, plain, and unsophisticated quality, often implying a rustic or unpolished charm.

Idiomatic

Of, relating to, or conforming to idiom; expressing a characteristic mode of expression peculiar to a particular language, group, individual, or style.

Informal

Marked by the absence of formality or ceremony; casual and conversational in style or manner.

Insipid

Lacking in qualities that interest, stimulate, or challenge; dull, flat, or without flavor; uninteresting.

Jargon

The technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity or group; specialized language that may be obscure to outsiders.

Learned

Acquired by learning or study; possessing profound knowledge or scholarship; erudite.

Literal

Adhering strictly to the primary or explicit meaning of a word, phrase, or text; free from exaggeration, embellishment, or metaphor.

Moralistic

Characterized by or expressive of a concern with morality, often in a judgmental or critical way; given to making moral judgments about others.

Obscure

Not clearly understood or expressed; ambiguous or vague; difficult or impossible to understand; also, not prominent or well known.

Obtuse

Lacking sharpness or quickness of sensibility or intellect; dull-witted; or difficult to comprehend and not clear or precise in thought or expression.

Pedantic

Overly concerned with minute details, rules, or academic learning; ostentatiously displaying one's perceived knowledge in a narrow or dull manner.

Picturesque

Resembling a picture; particularly pretty, charming, or interesting in an artistic or quaint way, especially of scenery.

Plain

Lacking embellishment or ornament; simple, straightforward, and clear; easy to understand without complexity or artificiality.

Poetic

Of, relating to, or characteristic of poetry; possessing an imaginative, expressive, or beautiful quality often associated with verse.

Precise

Exactly or sharply defined or stated; minutely exact and accurate, leaving nothing to doubt or ambiguity.

Pretentious

Characterized by pretension; attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, or style than is actually possessed; ostentatious.

Provincial

Of, relating to, or coming from a province; limited in outlook to one's own area; narrow-minded or unsophisticated due to a lack of exposure to broader culture.

Scholarly

Of, relating to, or characteristic of scholars or scholarship; involving serious academic study and learning; erudite.

Sensuous

Of or relating to the senses rather than the intellect; appealing to the senses, especially in a pleasing or gratifying way.

Simple

Free from complexity, intricacy, or difficulty; consisting of one thing or uncompounded; not elaborate, artificial, or complicated.

Slang

An informal nonstandard vocabulary, often composed of novel and ephemeral coinages, typically used by a particular group or class and characterized by its unconventional or humorous nature.

Symbolic

Of, relating to, or constituting a symbol; using or exhibiting a symbol to represent an idea, quality, or concept.

Trite

Hackneyed or boring from much use; lacking originality or effectiveness due to overuse.

Vulgar

Lacking cultivation, refinement, or good taste; coarse and unrefined in manners or speech; morally base or crude.