Stilted

hard

STIL-tid

adjective

Definition

Stiff and self-conscious or unnatural in manner

Examples

The dialogue in the play felt stilted and unrealistic.
His stilted manner made conversation difficult.

Synonyms

stiffawkwardunnaturalforced

Antonyms

naturalfluentspontaneousrelaxed

Categories

GRE Tip

Stilted is a hard-difficulty GRE word. On the GRE, you might see it paired with synonyms like "stiff" or "awkward" in Sentence Equivalence questions. Look for contrast clues (however, despite, although) that signal the opposite meaning. Words like "natural".

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