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pose

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To place in an attitude or fixed position, for the sake of effect.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

pohz
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈpoʊz

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitive

    To place in an attitude or fixed position, for the sake of effect.

  2. transitive

    To constitute (a danger, a threat, a risk, etc.).

  3. transitive

    To ask; to set (a test, quiz, riddle, etc.).

  4. Behave affectedly or unnaturally in order to impress others

  5. intransitive

    To behave affectedly in order to attract interest or admiration.

  6. transitivein the phrase "to pose as"

    To falsely impersonate (another person or occupation) primarily for the purpose of accomplishing something or reaching a goal.

noun

  1. Position, posture, arrangement (especially of the human body).

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To place in an attitude or fixed position, for the sake of effect.

Used this way, pose is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use pose

  • “She posed as the Czar's daughter.”verb
  • “We don't know the woman who posed for Leonardo so often.”verb
  • “This poses an interesting question.”verb

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • posture

    To place in a particular position or attitude.

  • position

    To put into place.

  • lay

    To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.

  • posit

    To put (something somewhere) firmly.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • posedadjectiveInflected form

    Arranged for pictorial purposes.

  • posernounInflected form

    A person who habitually pretends to be something he is not.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

verb

Sense: to place in an attitude or fixed position

posturelaypositsituate

noun

Sense: position or posture

postureplacepresentTechnicalposit

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.