Tone and Diction

Flashcards containing vocabulary terms for describing tone and diction in AP English Language and Composition.

admiring

complimentary, favorable

alarmed

excited

allusive

suggestive, hinting

aloof

haughty, distant

ambivalent

indecisive, having mixed emotions

angry

irate

anxious

uneasy, brooding

apathetic

uncaring, uninvolved

apologetic

regretful

audacious

bold, insolent

belligerent

contentious

benevolent

kindly

bitter

hating, malicious, resentful, rancorous

candid

frank, truthful

captious

ready to detect trivial faults

censorious

severely critical, condemnatory

clinical

detached, coolly dispassionate

cold

unemotional

complacent

self-satisfied, smug

condescending

showing superiority, patronizing

confident

certain, full of conviction

confused

perplexed, disconcerted

contemptuous

scornful, disdainful, disrespectful, irrelevant

critical

judging harshly

cynical

contemptuously distrustful of human nature and motives, misanthropic

delirious

suggesting frenzied excitement

depressed

dejected

desperate

showing a loss of hope

detached

unconcerned, aloof, distant, unbiased

didactic

instructive

dispassionate

unaffected by strong feeling; showing coolness of judgment

dogmatic

authoritative, assertive, arrogant

dreamy

vague, in a state of reverie, appearing tranquil

effusive

excessively demonstrative, gushing

elated

joyful; happy

elegiac

expressing sorrow

fanciful

whimsical

flippant

lacking proper respect or seriousness

forgiving

pardoning, excusing

frivolous

lacking seriousness, playful, silly

giddy

lightheartedly silly

hesitant

reluctant

impartial

unbiased, objective

impassioned

ardent, fervent, fervid

importunate

overly persistent in demand

incredulous

not believing

indignant

showing anger at injustice

insolent

arrogant, overbearing, impudent

ironic

expressing the opposite of literal meaning

irreverent

disrespectful

jocular

joking, humorous

lugubrious

dismal, mournful

matter-of-fact

concerned with fact only, not imaginative or fanciful; objective

melancholy

depressed, dejected, sad

optimistic

inclined to expect the best possible outcome

pedantic

narrowly or unimaginatively academic; ostentatiously learned

pessimistic

inclined to expect the worst possible outcome, fatalistic

pompous

arrogant, self-important

puerile

childish, juvenile

pungent

caustic, stinging, biting

restrained

reserved

sardonic

disdainfully humorous, sarcastic

satirical

ridiculing, ironic, mocking, taunting

sentimental

affectedly emotional, maudlin

skeptical

questioning, doubting

somber

serious, solemn, gloomy, grave, melancholy

supercilious

haughtily contemptuous

sympathetic

favoring, pitying

tongue-in-cheek

ironic, facetious, sarcastic

threatening

menacing

urgent

urging insistently, earnest

vexed

annoyed, agitated

vindictive

vengeful, spiteful, vicious

zealous

eager, passionate, fervent