posing

¹

[ poh-zing ]

noun

1. the act or practice of assuming a particular attitude or stance, especially with the hope of impressing others:

   The new website aims to strip away the pretentious posing of wine connoisseurs, inviting users to “tell us what tastes good to you!”

2. the act or practice of falsely representing oneself:

   Under all his posing as an honest reporter, his real purpose is to defend a barbarous regime.

3. the act of assuming or holding a particular physical position, or of placing someone else in such a position, as for a portrait or photograph:

   She liked to paint women and children, and the natural posing of her subjects is still unsurpassed.

4. the act of putting forward, stating, or suggesting something, as a question, hypothesis, matter for consideration, etc.:

   Classroom strategies like cooperative learning and the posing of open-ended questions can encourage thinking and discussion.

adjective

1. falsely representing oneself, or assuming a particular attitude or stance in the hope of impressing others:

   I don’t fit in—everyone else in that place is a filmmaker, an "edgy" magazine journalist, or a posing hipster.

2. assuming a particular physical position, as for a portrait or photograph:

   I love how real and natural these images are—no posing tourists, just scenic beauty on its own.

posing

²

[ poh-zing ]

adjective

1. baffling, perplexing, or vexing; difficult:

   The command to “love your neighbor as you love yourself” has within it the most posing challenge for you and me—learning to love ourselves.

Other Words From

• pos·ing·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of posing¹

First recorded in 1850–55; pos(e) ¹( def ) + -ing ¹( def ) for the noun senses; pos(e) ¹( def ) + -ing ²( def ) for the adjective senses

Origin of posing²

pos(e) ²( def ) + -ing ²( def )

Example Sentences

A midriff-baring Walker was seen performing yoga poses in a bra and leggings, and even more speculation about her pregnancy status went down in the comments.

From Essence.com

Air travel is becoming a touchless, self-directed journey, which poses a threat to traditional airport customer service jobs.

From Axios

Efforts to wrench electoral votes away from a popular vote winner and attempts to interfere with the certification of results pose their own risks to the system of choosing representatives through elections.

From Washington Post

Ahead of her introduction, with more than 100 media members on the Zoom call, Ng posed for portraits inside an empty Marlins Park.

From Washington Post

When these questions were posed to him, Mark Scialabba, the Nationals’ assistant general manager in charge of player development, presented two middle infielders, a catcher, a left-handed-hitting first baseman and a trio of teenage outfielders.

From Washington Post

A smirking Ramone is shown wearing both a CBGB shirt and heavy gold chains, posing next to an enormous boombox.

From The Daily Beast

Somebody suggests that if proved they could seriously damage public confidence in the state, posing a national security risk.

From The Daily Beast

One month after the operation, Holm arrived in a ghostly Stanleyville posing as a State Department representative.

From The Daily Beast

When Singh got back on board, he saw the off-duty army officers and realized that posing as one of them might help save him.

From The Daily Beast

Click here to see a photo of Galbraith and Fairchild posing in front of barbed wire that marked off mines in the zone.

From The Daily Beast

Posing as a patriot King and boasting of his love for his adopted country, he ever remained at heart a Frenchman.

From Project Gutenberg

An inexperienced model—and sometimes even a trained one—is likely to faint while posing, particularly if the room be close.

From Project Gutenberg

Was it not the sensuous side of her nature that had been touched, while the rest had been posing in the foreground?

From Project Gutenberg

Yesterday Seth brought me here, posing as a wealthy eccentric relative anxious to place me in safety.

From Project Gutenberg

Nagpús na bayà siya nga wà pa ang mangungúdak, My, you are posing even if there is no cameraman around.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• charade
• cloak
• pretext
• semblance
• veneer