Tone Vocabulary Words

Flashcards defining key tone words from the lecture notes.

Acerbic

A sharp, biting, and harshly sarcastic tone

Ambivalent

A mixed, uncertain, or undecided tone

Apprehensive

An anxious, nervous, or fearful tone

Bantering

A playful, lighthearted, and teasing tone

Benevolent

A warm, kind, and charitable tone

Callous

A cold, unfeeling, and harsh tone

Candid

An honest, open, and straightforward tone

Capricious

An unpredictable, impulsive, and erratic tone

Clinical

A detached, analytical, and strictly objective tone

Conciliatory

A soothing, appeasing, and peacekeeping tone

Contemplative

A thoughtful, reflective, and meditative tone

Contentious

A quarrelsome, argumentative, and provocative tone

Cynical

A distrustful, skeptical, and bitter tone

Defamatory

A malicious, harmful, and slanderous tone

Didactic

An instructive, lecturing, or overly teaching tone

Diffident

A shy, hesitant, and unassertive tone

Disdainful

A scornful, arrogant, and superior tone

Earnest

A serious, sincere, and deeply heartfelt tone

Effusive

An overly demonstrative, gushing, and enthusiastic tone

Elegiac

A mournful, melancholic, and sorrowful tone