What can an attitude list do to help you become the person you want to be?
To make positive changes in your life and how you respond to challenges, you need to see where you are now.
How do you react when things go wrong?
How do you respond to people who criticize, undermine, or betray you?
The attitudes you choose are the precursor to the actions you take.
Knowing your go-to attitudes can help you identify better ones.
What Are the Attitudes of a Human?
Attitudes are situational mindsets that are separate from your character and personality, though often influenced by both.
You might be more disposed, for example, to respond to criticism with an aggressive attitude, or you might respond by withdrawing and acting detached or defensive.
Unlike emotions, which are more often involuntary, attitudes are intentional; you choose to have a particular attitude. It doesn’t just surface in response to something else.
The good news? You can choose to adopt attitudes that give you a boost in life — instead of holding you back.
What’s your attitude right now?
List of Attitudes: 175 Attitude Words to Describe Your State of Mind
Enjoy the following list of words to describe attitude.
Make a note of the ones that sound most familiar to you — the ones you adopt most often — as well as those you’d like to use more often than you do.
1. Abrasive
2. Accepting
3. Adventurous
4. Affectionate
5. Aggressive
6. Agreeable
7. Aloof
8. Ambivalent
9. Angry
10. Angsty
11. Annoyed
12. Anxious or Worried
13. Antagonistic
14. Antisocial
15. Apathetic
16. Arrogant
17. Assertive
18. Avoidant
19. Awestruck
20. Benevolent
21. Belligerent
22. Biased
23. Bigoted
24. Brave or Courageous
25. Broadminded
26. Buoyant
27. Callous
28. Calm
29. Caring
30. Cheerful
31. Cheerless
32. Closed-minded
33. Cold / Cold-hearted
34. Commanding
35. Competitive
36. Conceited
37. Concerned
38. Conciliatory
39. Condescending
40. Confident
41. Contrarian
42. Critical
43. Cynical
44. Dark
45. Daring
46. Defeatist
47. Defensive
48. Depressed
49. Detached
50. Determined
51. Diplomatic
52. Disdainful
53. Disgusted
54. Disrespectful
55. Distrustful
56. Empathetic
57. Energetic
58. Enterprising
59. Enthusiastic
60. Expectant
61. Fearful
62. Festive
63. Flexible
64. Flippant
65. Forgiving
66. Fretful
67. Friendly
68. Frustrated
69. Furtive
70. Gloomy
71. Glum
72. Grim
73. Grounded
74. Hesitant
75. Hopeful
76. Hopeless or Despairing
77. Hostile or Inhospitable
78. Humble
79. Impartial
80. Impatient
81. Imperious
82. Imperturbable
83. Indifferent (to others)
84. Indignant
85. Inquisitive
86. Insecure
87. Interested
88. Intransigent
89. Intolerant
90. Irresponsible
91. Jealous
92. Joyful / Joyous
93. Judgmental
94. Lazy
95. Liberal or Generous
96. Lighthearted
97. Lively
98. Loving
99. Malevolent
100. Maternal or Maternalistic
101. Mean-spirited or Malicious
102. Miserable
103. Moralistic
104. Morose
105. Negative
106. Neutral
107. No-Nonsense
108. Nihilistic
109. Objective
110. Obnoxious
111. Obsequious
112. Open / Open-minded
113. Optimistic
114. Overconfident
115. Parsimonious
116. Passionate
117. Passive
118. Patient
119. Paternal or Paternalistic
120. Patronizing
121. Pessimistic
122. Polite
123. Positive
124. Practical
125. Pragmatic
126. Professional
127. Querulous
128. Rational or Reasonable
129. Reluctant
130. Recalcitrant
131. Resentful or Bitter
132. Reserved
133. Resilient
134. Resistant
135. Respectful
136. Responsible
137. Reticent
138. Reverent
139. Sardonic (sharp/sarcastic)
140. Secretive
141. Selfish
142. Self-assured
143. Self-effacing
144. Selfless
145. Self-righteous
146. Serious
147. Skeptical
148. Sneaky
149. Snobby / Snobbish
150. Solemn
151. Somber
152. Sorrowful
153. Spiteful
154. Stubborn or Obstinate or Inflexible
155. Suspicious
156. Sympathetic
157. Thoughtful
158. Timid or Timorous
159. Tireless or Indefatigable
160. Tolerant
161. Traumatized
162. Trusting
163. Unaffected
164. Unassuming
165. Unbiased or Impartial
166. Understanding
167. Unfriendly or Unsociable
168. Unwavering or Immovable
169. Unprofessional
170. Vigilant or Hypervigilant
171. Volatile or Explosive
172. Warm or Compassionate
173. Whimsical
174. Willing
175. Withdrawn
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How to Change Your Attitude
Now that you’ve looked through the entire attitude words list and identified familiar attitudes, you might be wondering, “What if, instead of getting defensive when someone criticizes me, I adopt an open-minded or patient attitude?”
Or, to put it more generally, how do you swap out one attitude for a contrary one? Attitudes are intentional, after all, though they can easily become a habit.
How do you build better ones?
- Visualize yourself responding to a situation with a different attitude.
- Write about the attitudes you take and why you take them.
- Practice responding differently to smaller challenges and build on those wins.
- Build habits (like meditation) that help you see each situation more objectively.
- Take better care of yourself with adequate sleep, optimal nutrition, and exercise.
You now have a long list of adjectives for attitude to reference when you’re describing an attitude of your own or someone else’s.
Which attitudes are you most proud of — and which would you like to exchange for others that might serve you better?