attitude

attitude
attitude
One might say that this is now a word with attitude, in its 20c meaning ‘aggressive or uncooperative behaviour’, which represents a special application of one kind of characteristic attitude (in the established meaning ‘a person's settled opinion or behaviour’):

• If I'm out there for months with everybody yelling at me, I'm going to cop an attitude —New York Times, 1985.

The word is still moving on, and now has a positive connotation, ‘assertiveness, style, panache’:

• In this job, you've gotta have attitude, hang loose, ready for anything —Police Review, 1990.

It should only be used in this way informally; more formally the word needs explicit clarification: for the first meaning use uncooperative attitude or even simply poor (or bad) attitude, and for the second meaning strong (or positive) attitude.

Modern English usage. 2014.

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  • ATTITUDE — Le mot attitude vient du latin aptitudo. Son sens primitif appartient au domaine de la plastique: «Manière de tenir le corps. [Avoir] de belles attitudes», dit Littré. Du physique le terme se transpose au moral: «L’attitude du respect»; puis il… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Attitude — may refer to: NOTOC Psychology* Attitude (psychology), a person s perspective toward a specified target * Propositional attitude, a relational mental state connecting a person to a propositionMusic* Attitude (rapper) * Attitudes (band), a 1970s… …   Wikipedia

  • Attitude — At ti*tude, n. [It. attitudine, LL. aptitudo, fr. L. aptus suited, fitted: cf. F. attitude. Cf. {Aptitude}.] 1. (Paint. & Sculp.) The posture, action, or disposition of a figure or a statue. [1913 Webster] 2. The posture or position of a person… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • attitude — ATTITUDE. s. f. Situation, position du corps. Belle attitude. Toutes les attitudes de ce tableau sont admirables. Mettre un modèle dans une certaine attitude. Le peindre dans une certaine attitude. Son attitude étoit à peindre. [b]f♛/b] On donne… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française 1798

  • Attitüde — (sprich ˌatiˈtyːdə; von französisch attitude, gesprochen atityd, Haltung, Verhalten, Gebaren, Einstellung) nennt man in der Kunst die Haltung, Stellung oder Lage menschlicher Figuren, eine Positur oder eine Gebärde. Im Sinne der bildenden Kunst… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • attitude — [at′ə to͞od΄, at′ətyo͞od΄] n. [Fr < It attitudine, attitude, aptness < LL aptitudo (gen. aptitudinis) < L aptus, APT1] 1. the position or posture assumed by the body in connection with an action, feeling, mood, etc. [to kneel in an… …   English World dictionary

  • attitude — UK US /ˈætɪtjuːd/ noun [C or U] ► a feeling or opinion about something, especially when this shows in your behaviour: attitude towards sb/sth »We need team players with a positive attitude towards work. »What is your employer s attitude to equal… …   Financial and business terms

  • Attitüde — Sf Haltung , besonders affektierte Haltung, Einstellung erw. fremd. Erkennbar fremd (18. Jh.) Entlehnung. Entlehnt aus frz. attitude f., das seinerseits aus it. attitudine entlehnt ist. Dessen weitere Herkunft ist mehrdeutig (zu l. aptus passend… …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • Attitude — ist der Name: eines Album der norwegischen Band Susperia, siehe Attitude (Album) einer britischen Zeitschrift, siehe Attitude (Zeitschrift) Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zur Unterscheidung meh …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Attitüde — Attitüde, Stellung des Leibes, Lage, Haltung, vorzüglich in der Ruhe. Die Attitüde fordert beim bildenden Künstler, beim Tänzer, beim Pantomimen und Schauspieler große Vorstudien, denn sie sei der jedesmalige genaue Abdruck des Seelenzustandes… …   Damen Conversations Lexikon

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