Attitudinize

Attitudinize is a verb that means to assume an affected mental state. Our word of the day gets its root word from attitude, which comes indirectly from the Latin word Aptus (OP toose) meaning ‘fit.’ When a person attitudinizes, they adopt or express a particular attitude just for effect. Here’s an example of the word in use: At first we all thought Jane’s snooty demeanor was just an illustration of how people can attitudinize once they gain success. But those who knew her well insisted she was like that years before getting rich.