Tact vs Demeanor - What's the difference?
tact | demeanor |
The sense of touch; feeling.
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* J. Le Conte
(music) The stroke in beating time.
Sensitive mental touch; peculiar skill or faculty; nice perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and doing what is required by circumstances.
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The ability to deal with embarrassing situations carefully and without doing or saying anything that will annoy or upset other people; careful consideration in dealing with others to avoid giving offense; the ability to say the right thing.
(psychology) A verbal operant which is controlled by a nonverbal stimulus (such as an object, event, or property of an object) and is maintained by nonspecific social reinforcement (praise).
* 2013 , Jacob L. Gewirtz, William M. Kurtines, Jacob L. Lamb, Intersections With Attachment
The social, non-verbal behaviours (such as body language and facial expressions) that are characteristic of a person.
* {{quote-book, a. 1587, , Historie of England, section=Book III
, passage=At this present (saith he) certeine princes of Britaine, procuring by ambassadors and dutifull demeanors the amitie of the emperour Augustus, haue offered in the capitoll vnto the gods presents or gifts, and haue ordeined the whole Ile in a manner to be appertinent, proper, and familiar to the Romans.}}
* {{quote-book, 1993, editor=John J. Fay, chapter=Interrogation: The Kinesics Technique, , Encyclopedia of Security Management, isbn=0750696605
, passage=Demeanors' that are apologetic and overly polite are inherently contradictory to ' demeanors that exhibit fear and anger.}}
As nouns the difference between tact and demeanor
is that tact is the sense of touch; feeling while demeanor is the social, non-verbal behaviours (such as body language and facial expressions) that are characteristic of a person.As a verb tact
is (psychology) to use a tact (a kind of verbal operant; see noun sense).tact
Noun
(en noun)- Did you suppose that I could not make myself sensible to tact as well as sight?
- Now, sight is a very refined tact .
- He had formed plans not inferior in grandeur and boldness to those of Richelieu, and had carried them into effect with a tact and wariness worthy of Mazarin.
- A tact' which surpassed the '''tact''' of her sex as much as the '''tact''' of her sex surpassed the ' tact of ours.
- By the use of tact , she was able to calm her jealous husband.
- I used tact when I told my fat uncle that his extra weight made him look better.
- Skinner (1957) saw such tacts as responses that are reinforced socially.
Derived terms
* tactful * tactlessExternal links
* * ----demeanor
English
Alternative forms
* demeanour (British spelling)Noun
- The man's demeanor made others suspicious of his intentions.
- A confident demeanor is crucial for persuading others.
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