AP Lang Tone Words

Acerbic

Negative: harsh or severe, as of temper or expression

Accusatory

Negative: containing or expressing accusation

Admonitory

Negative: tending or serving to admonish, warning

Ambivalent

Neutral: having mixed feelings about someone or something; being unable to choose between two (usually opposing) courses of action.

Amused

Positive: pleasurably entertained, occupied, or diverted.

Apathetic

Neutral: having or showing little emotion

Apologetic

Neutral/Negative: regretfully acknowledging or excusing an offense or failure

Apprehensive

Negative: uneasy or fearful about something that might happen

Authoritative

Positive/Neutral/Negative: having due authority; having the sanction or weight of authority.

Bitter

Negative: characterized by intense antagonism or hostility.

Capricious

Neutral/Negative: subject to, led by, or indicative of a sudden, odd notion or unpredictable change; erratic.

Caustic

Negative: severely critical or sarcastic

Cautionary

Negative: offering or serving as a warning

Cheerful

Positive: noticeable happy and optimistic

Compassionate

Positive: feeling or showing sympathy, compassion, and concern for others.

Concerned

Negative: worried, troubled, or anxious

Contemplative

Neutral: given to or characterized by contemplation.

Conciliatory

Positive: intended to resolve a disagreement, end conflict, or gain goodwill by showing a willingness to make concessions or find common ground

Condescending

Negative: showing or implying a usually patronizing descent from dignity or superiority.

Critical

Negative: finding fault, or expressing disapproval towards something

Cynical

Negative: distrusting or disparaging the motives of others; like or characteristic of a cynic.

Deferential

Positive/neutral: showing deference, respectful

Dejected

Negative: depressed in spirits; disheartened; low-spirited.

Detached

Neutral: impartial or objective; disinterested; unbiased, uninvolved.

Didactic

Neutral: intended for instruction; instructive.

Diplomatic

Neutral: skilled in dealing with sensitive matters or people, of or relating to diplomacy

Disdainful

Negative: full of or showing disdain, scornful

Disgruntled

Negative: displeased and discontented; sulky; peevish

Disgusted

Negative: to offend the good taste, moral sense, etc., of; cause extreme dislike or revulsion in.

Distressed

Negative: showing or suffering from distress, worried or upset

Droll

Positive: amusing in an odd way; whimsically humorous; waggish

Earnest

Positive: serious and zealous in intention, purpose, or effort, showing depth and sincerity of feeling.

Elegiac

Negative: expressing sorrow or lamentation.

Exasperated

Negative: feeling or expressing extreme annoyance or irritation.

Facetious

Neutral: lacking serious intent; concerned with something nonessential, amusing, or frivolous.

Factual

Neutral: of or relating to facts

Fearful

Negative: causing or apt to cause fear

Fervent

Positive: having or showing great warmth or intensity of spirit, feeling, enthusiasm

Flippant

Neutral: frivolously disrespectful, shallow, or lacking in seriousness; characterized by levity

Frustrated

Negative: having a feeling of or filled with frustration; dissatisfied

Grave

Negative: serious or solemn

Harsh

Negative: grim or unpleasantly severe; stern; cruel; austere.

Haughty

Negative: disdainfully proud; scornfully arrogant; snobbish;

Hopeless

Negative: providing no hope, beyond optimism

Humorous

Positive: characterized by humor, funny, comical

Indifferent

Neutral: without interest or concern; not caring; apathetic

Indignant

Negative: feeling, characterized by, or expressing strong displeasure at something considered unjust, offensive, insulting, or base

Informal

Neutral: without formality or ceremony, casual

Inspiring

Positive: inspirational, giving positive or hopeful feelings

Irate

Negative: enraged, angry

Irked

Negative: irritate, annoy

Ironic

Neutral: of, relating to, or tending to use irony or mockery

Jingoistic

Neutral: militantly nationalistic or chauvinistic

Joyous

Positive: joyful; happy; jubilant

Laudatory

Positive: containing or expressing praise

Lugubrious

Negative: mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner

Macabre

Negative: gruesome and horrifying; ghastly; horrible, of, pertaining to, dealing with, or representing death, especially its grimmer or uglier aspect.

Maudlin

Neutral: tearfully or weakly emotional; foolishly sentimental

Mocking

Negative: showing ridicule, contempt, or derision

Mock-serious

Neutral: humorous pretense of seriousness.

Mystified

Neutral: expresses perplexity, bewilderment, and confusion through one's voice or expression, often to the point of not understanding something or someone

Nostalgic

Positive: experiencing or exhibiting nostalgia, a sentimental or wistful yearning for the happiness felt in a former place, time, or situation

Objective

Neutral: not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased

Optimistic

Positive: disposed to take a favorable view of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome

Passionate

Neutral: having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling; fervid.

Patriotic

Neutral: expressing or inspired by patriotism

Patronizing

Negative: displaying or indicative of an offensively condescending manner.

Pedantic

Neutral: overly concerned with minute details or formalisms, especially in teaching.

Pessimistic

Negative: pertaining to or characterized by pessimism or the tendency to expect only bad outcomes; gloomy; joyless; unhopeful

Petulant

Negative: moved to or showing sudden, impatient irritation, especially over some trifling annoyance

Playful

Positive: pleasantly humorous or jesting

Pompous

Neutral: characterized by an ostentatious display of dignity or importance

Pretentious

Negative: characterized by assumption of dignity or importance, especially when exaggerated or undeserved.

Reflective

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

Regretful

Negative: full of regret; sorrowful because of what is lost, gone, or done.

Remorseful

Negative: full of remorse

Resigned

Neutral: submissive or acquiescent

Reverent

Positive: conveys deep respect, admiration, and awe toward a person or thing, often accompanied by solemnity and seriousness

Sardonic

Negative: characterized by bitter or scornful derision; mocking; sneering; cynical

Sarcastic

Neutral/negative: of, relating to, or characterized by sarcasm

Satirical

Neutral: of, pertaining to, containing, or characterized by satire.

Scathing

Negative: bitterly severe, as a remark

Scornful

Negative: full of scorn; derisive; contemptuous

Self-pitying

Negative: excessive, self-indulgent unhappiness over one's own misfortunes, accompanied by a feeling that one has suffered more than is fair or reasonable

Sentimental

Positive: expressive of or appealing to sentiment, especially the tender emotions and feelings, as love, pity, or nostalgia

Solemn

Negative: gravely or somberly impressive; causing serious thoughts or a grave mood.

Spiritual

Neutral: of or relating to spirits or to spiritualists; supernatural or spiritualistic.

Sympathetic

Neutral/positive: characterized by, proceeding from, exhibiting, or feeling sympathy; sympathizing; compassionate.

Threatening

Negative: tending or intended to menace

Urgent

Neutral: conveys a sense of pressing importance, requiring immediate action or attention

Vituperative

Negative: characterized by or of the nature of vituperation( verbal abuse)

Wistful

Neutral: characterized by melancholy or longing