Glaz Copy of List of Tone Words

Tone words

1. Ambivalent – having mixed feelings

2. Apathetic – indifferent, uncaring

3. Austere – strict, stern, simple

4. Bantering – teasing, playful

5. Brusque – abrupt, curt, terse

6. Candid – very honest and open

7. Carping – whining, nagging, critical

8. Censorious – condemning, severely critical, fault-finding

9. Complacent – satisfied with oneself therefore uncaring, smug, unbothered

   10. Conciliatory – always aiming to please or pacify

   11. Contemptuous – full of deep hatred

   12. Contentious – easily prone to fighting, quarrelsome

   13. Cynical – extremely distrustful, bitterly pessimistic

   14. Dejected – disheartened, depressed

   15. Derisive – showing contempt through ridicule and scorn

   16. Desolate – lonely, dreary, dismal

   17. Didactic – intending to be instructive, tending to lecture or teach too much

   18. Dogmatic – opinionated, preachy, firm and unyielding in one’s beliefs

   19. Ebullient – overflowing with enthusiasm and joy

   20. Effusive – gushing praise

   21. Elegiac – expressing sorrow or lament

   22. Fervent – ardent, showing intensity of feeling

   23. Flippant – disrespectful, shallow, lacking in seriousness

   24. Haughty – proud, arrogant, snobbish

   25. Incisive – cuttingly direct, to the point

   26. Incredulous - unbelieving

   27. Indignant – angry because of something one feels is unjust

   28. Intemperate – uncontrolled, unrestrained, going to extremes

   29. Irony - sarcastic use of words to imply the opposite of what they normally mean, an outcome of events contrary to what was expected.

   30. Jocund – joyful, cheerful

   31. Laudatory – giving praise

   32. Lethargic – drowsy, sluggish, apathetic

   33. Lugubrious – mournful

   34. Pedantic - making a show of knowledge, overly concerned with minute details

   35. Pensive – wistfully or dreamily thoughtful

   36. Petulant – insolent, rude, like a spoiled child

   37. Pithy – concise, crisp, getting right to the point

   38. Puckish – mischievous, impish, rascally

   39. Reticent – reserved, reluctant to speak, restrained

   40. Rhapsodic – extravagantly emotional, euphoric, elated

   41. Sanguine – confident, optimistic

   42. Sardonic – mocking, derisive, sarcastic

   43. Smug – highly self-satisfied

   44. Somber – extremely serious, grave, gloomy, solemn

   45. Strident – harsh, insistent

   46. Timorous – timid, fearful

   47. Vitriolic – caustic, scathing, savagely cruel

   48. Whimsical – spontaneously fanciful, playful, impulsive

   49. Wry – cleverly ironic, grimly humorous

   50. Zealous – fervent, filled with passion