50 WORDS THAT DESCRIBE TONE IN POETRY AND PROSE
Apathetic
Feeling or showing little emotion
Arrogant
Bumptious
Audacious
fearless and daring
Bilious
bad tempered; cross
Blithe
joyful, cheerful, or without appropriate thought
Bombastic
pompous in speech and manner
Brash
(adj.) prone to act in a hasty manner; impudent
Breezy
lively and cheerful and relaxed
Cantankerous
Bad-tempered; quarrelsome.
Caustic
biting in wit
Coarse
conspicuously and tastelessly indecent
Colloquial
Characteristic of ordinary conversation rather than formal speech or writing
Complacent
Self-satisfied; smug
Condescending
(used of behavior or attitude) characteristic of those who treat others with condescension
Confiding
with trust or faith
Consoling
affording comfort or solace
Contemptuous
Feeling hatred; scornful
Contentious
argumentative; quarrelsome; causing controversy or disagreement
Contented
satisfied or showing satisfaction with things as they are
Contradictory
Expressing the opposite; inconsistent
Cynical
Questions the basic sincerity and goodness of people
Dejected
Downcast or sad; depressed
Deliberate
1. slow (a); 2. to think over (v); 3. on purpose (a)
Dismissive
Showing little regard; scornful
Doleful
Mournful or full of sorrow; causing grief
Dour
(adj.) stern, unyielding, gloomy, ill-humored
Dreamy
Reflecting a preoccupation with pleasant thoughts that distract one from one’s present surroundings.
Dutiful
obedient
Elegiac
Expressing sorrow or lamentation
Euphoric
Exaggerated feeling of well-being or elation
Fanciful
(adj) whimsical, capricious; imaginary; freely imaginative rather than based on reason or reality
Fervent
(adj.) very earnest, emotional, passionate; extremely hot
Frenetic
frantic; frenzied
Flippant
Humorous in a disrespectful, casual way; rudely witty
Frivolous
(adj.) of little importance, not worthy of serious attention; not meant seriously
Galvanizing
stimulating, energizing
Giddy
A light-headed sensation; dizzy; lightheartedly silly
Gregarious
outgoing; sociable
Haughty
Arrogant, excessively proud and vain
Illusory
(adj.) misleading, deceptive; lacking in or not based on reality
Impish
Inclined to do slightly naughty things for fun; mischievous.
Indignant
Characterized by outrage at something that is perceived as unjust
Laconic
Brief, using few words
Macabre
(adj.) grisly, gruesome; horrible, distressing; having death as a subject
Melancholy
Depression of spirits
Nihilistic
a viewpoint that traditional values and beliefs are unfounded and that existence is senseless and useless
Nostalgic
Longing for the past
Obsequious
marked by or exhibiting a fawning attentiveness
Opprobrious
(used of conduct or character) deserving or bringing disgrace or shame
Panegyric
elaborate praise; formal hymn of praise