stance

noun

ˈstan(t)s 

1

chiefly Scotland

a

: station

b

: site

2

a

: a way of standing or being placed : posture

b

: intellectual or emotional attitude

took an antiwar stance

3

a

: the position of the feet of a golfer or batter preparatory to making a swing

b

: the position of both body and feet from which an athlete starts or operates

Synonyms

• posture
• attitude

Examples of stance in a Sentence

a slightly aggressive stance

Recent Examples on the Web

The city of Austin declined to take a stance on the bill in response to a question from the Statesman. —Bayliss Wagner, Austin American Statesman, 30 July 2025

Newcastle’s stance for some time has been that Isak, the club’s top scorer last term with 27 goals in all competitions, is not for sale. —Ben Burrows, New York Times, 29 July 2025

Newcastle’s stance has not changed, with chairman and Governor of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, reportedly flying into North East England to take full control of the situation this week. —Harry De Cosemo, Forbes.com, 29 July 2025

China’s ambiguous stance on the war in Ukraine over the past three years reflects this internal division in Beijing. —Da Wei, Foreign Affairs, 29 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English stance, staunce, from Middle French estance position, posture, stay, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *stantia, from Latin stant-, stans, present participle of stare to stand

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing stance

• closed stance
• open stance

Rhymes for stance

• chance
• dance
• glance
• hance
• hanse
• lance
• manse
• prance
• trance
• advance
• askance
• enhance

Kids Definition

stance

noun

ˈstan(t)s 

1

: a way of standing or being placed : posture

a soldier with an erect stance

2

: a way of thinking or feeling

took an opposing stance on the issue