bearing

See Also: FACIAL EXPRESSIONS, MISCELLANEOUS; LYING; PERSONALITY PROFILES; PHYSICAL APPEARANCE; POSTURE; SITTING; STANDING; WALKING

1. Carried it [a bright, haggard look] … like a mask or a flag —William Faulkner
2. Exuded an air, almost an aroma, of justification, like a mother who has lived to see her maligned boy vindicated at last —Harvey Swados
3. Sitting up against the pillow, head back like a boxer between rounds —John Le Carré
4. Head lifted as though she carried life as lightly there as if it were a hat made of tulle —Paule Marshall

   See Also: HEAD MOVEMENTS

5. Held her body with a kind of awkward pride mixed with shame, like a young girl suddenly conscious of her flesh —Ross Macdonald
6. Held herself like a daughter of the Caesars —W. Somerset Maugham
7. Held his shoulders like a man conscious of responsibility —Willa Cather
8. He leaned back and crossed his legs, as if we were settling in front of the television set to watch “Masterpiece Theater”—Joan Hess
9. Her head , . . carried well back on a short neck, like a general or a statesman sitting for his portrait —Willa Cather
10. He seemed enduringly fixed on the sofa, the one firm object in a turbulent world … like a lighthouse … the firm, majestic lighthouse that sends out its kindly light —Isak Dinesen
11. He seemed to have collapsed into himself, like a scarecrow in the rain —Christopher Isherwood
12. His chin hung on his hand like dead weight on delicate scales —Reynolds Price
13. His erect figure carrying his white hair like a flag —John Updike
14. His shoulders slumped like a man ready to take a beating —James Crumley
15. His straight black hair and craggy face gave off a presence as formidable as an Indian in a gray flannel suit —Norman Mailer
16. Holding herself forward [as she walks] like a present —Alice Adams
17. I felt that if he [man with threatening presence] were to rise violently to his feet, the whole room would collapse like paper —Margaret Drabble
18. Lay piled in her armchair like a heap of small rubber tires —Patricia Ferguson
19. Leaned forward eagerly … looking like a bird that hears a worm in the ground —Robert Lowry
20. A lofty bearing … like a man who had never cringed and never had a creditor —Herman Melville
21. Looked like a prisoner in the dock, hangdog and tentative —T. Coraghessan Boyle
22. Looking regal as a king —Gloria Norris
23. Perched on her armchair like a granite image on the edge of a cliff —Edith Wharton
24. (Sat) prim and watchful as a schoolgirl on her first field trip —Robert Traver
25. Relaxed and regal as a Siamese cat —Harold Adams
26. (They were mute, immobile, pale —as) resigned as prisoners of war —Ignazio Silone
27. Sat like a bronze statue of despair —Louisa May Alcott
28. Sat like a Greek in a tragedy, waiting for the gods to punish her for her way of life —Jonathan Valin
29. Sat helpless and miserable, like a man lashed by some elemental force of nature —Flannery O’Connor
30. Sat like a man dulled by morphine —Albert Maltz
31. (The leading members of the Ministry) sat like a range of exhausted volcanoes —Benjamin Disraeli
32. Sat on the arm of the sofa with a kind of awkward arrogance, like a workman in a large strange house —Paul Theroux
33. (Professor Tomlinson) sat up in the witness chair like a battleship raising its most powerful gun turret into position to fire —Henry Denker
34. She drew herself up with a jerk like a soldier standing easy called to stand-at-attention position —Kingsley Amis
35. She holds up her head like a hen drinking —Scottish proverb
36. She walked like a woman at her lover’s funeral —Derek Lambert
37. She was still and soft in her corner [of the room] like a passive creature in its cave —D. H. Lawrence
38. She wore defeat like a piece of cheap jewelry —Pat Conroy
39. Slumped into her seat like a Pentecostal exhausted from speaking in tongues —Sarah Bird
40. Spread his arms and went springy like a tennis player —Graham Swift
41. Slumps in his chair like a badly hurt man, half life-size —Ted Hughes
42. Standing like a lost child in a nightmare country in which there was no familiar landmark to guide her —Margaret Mitchell
43. Standing … poised and taut as a diver —George Garrett

    See Also: PREPAREDNESS

44. Standing still alone, she seemed almost somber, like a statue to some important but unpopular virtue in a formal garden —Douglas Adams
45. Stands there like a big shepherd dog —Clifford Odets
46. Stands there like a prizefighter, like somebody who knows the score —Raymond Carver
47. Stands there vacantly, like a scared cat —Bobbie Ann Mason
48. Stately [movement] like a sailing ship —William H. Gass
49. Stood around casual as tourists —James Crumley
50. Stood before them, like a prisoner at the bar, or rather like a sick man before the physicians who were to heal him —Edith Wharton
51. Stood in one place, staring back into space and grinding fist into palm, like a bomb looking for someplace to go off —William Diehl
52. Stood looking at us like a figure of doom —Edith Wharton
53. Stood morosely apart, like a man absorbed in adding millions of pennies together, one by one —Frank Swinnerton
54. Stood stiffly as a hanged man —Leigh Allison Wilson
55. Stood … stiffly, like a page in some ancient court, or like a young prince expecting attention —Mary Hedin
56. Stood there like an angry bull that can’t decide who to drive his horns in next —Danny Santiago
57. Walked like a man through ashes, silent and miserable —Robert Culff

    See Also: DEJECTION, WALKING

58. Went about looking as though she had had a major operation that had not proved a success —Josephine Tey
59. Wore abuse like widow’s weeds —Lael Tucker Wertenbaker
60. Wore their beauty and affability like expensive clothes put on for the occasion —Edith Wharton