Poise vs. Grace — What's the Difference?
Edited by Tayyaba Rehman — By Urooj Arif — Updated on March 13, 2024
Poise is the quality of being composed, confident, and self-assured, especially under pressure, while grace refers to elegance, smoothness, and attractiveness in movement, behavior, or manner.
Difference Between Poise and Grace
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Poise is often characterized by an individual's calm and composed demeanor, particularly in stressful or challenging situations. It reflects a sense of self-assurance and the ability to maintain balance and control over one's emotions and reactions. Whereas, grace is more about the beauty and elegance in someone's movements or actions, as well as the courteous and considerate way they interact with others, often exuding a natural, effortless charm.
Individuals with poise are admired for their ability to handle difficult circumstances without showing signs of distress or discomfort, demonstrating confidence and control. On the other hand, those with grace captivate others through their fluid movements, gentle manners, and the harmonious way they conduct themselves, often leaving a lasting impression of refinement and charm.
Poise can be particularly important in professional and social settings where maintaining composure can significantly impact one's effectiveness and the perception of others. Grace, however, is often highlighted in contexts involving physical movement, such as dance or athletics, and in social interactions where graciousness can enhance relationships and social harmony.
While poise is more internally driven, focusing on emotional stability and confidence, grace encompasses external expressions, including the aesthetics of movement and the warmth and kindness in interactions. Both qualities, however, contribute significantly to an individual's overall demeanor and the way they are perceived by others.
The development of poise involves cultivating self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and stress management skills, allowing individuals to remain composed even in challenging situations. Cultivating grace, on the other hand, often involves physical awareness and coordination, as well as a mindful approach to interactions, emphasizing kindness, empathy, and respect.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
The quality of being composed and self-assured, especially under pressure.
The quality of being elegant and smooth in movement or behavior.
Focus
Internal stability, confidence, and emotional control.
External elegance, attractiveness, and courteousness in interactions.
Key Attributes
Composure, confidence, self-control.
Elegance, smoothness, harmony in movement, graciousness.
Contexts
Often highlighted in professional and social situations requiring calm under pressure.
Emphasized in physical movements and socially gracious interactions.
Development
Involves emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and stress management.
Requires physical coordination, awareness, and a considerate approach to interactions.
Compare with Definitions
Poise
Confidence in one's own abilities, especially in challenging contexts.
His self-assurance, a key aspect of his poise, impressed everyone during the presentation.
Grace
The quality of being smooth and attractive in physical action.
The dancer's elegance in movement captivated the audience, highlighting her grace.
Poise
The ability to remain calm and composed in stressful situations.
Her emotional stability during the crisis demonstrated remarkable poise.
Grace
A courteous and considerate way of interacting with others.
Her gracious manner during the dinner made all the guests feel welcome.
Poise
Maintaining calmness and clarity of thought during difficult times.
The team leader's composure under pressure was a true display of poise.
Grace
Actions that are pleasing and fluid, demonstrating coordination and balance.
His harmonious action on the field was a testament to his athletic grace.
Poise
The ability to respond to situations in a measured and controlled manner.
Her balanced reaction to criticism showcased her poise in handling negative feedback.
Grace
Conduct that is polished, sophisticated, and exhibits cultural refinement.
The diplomat's refined behavior at the summit was a clear indicator of his grace.
Poise
Behaving in a respectable and composed manner, regardless of circumstances.
Despite the heated debate, he maintained dignified conduct, reflecting his poise.
Grace
Showing warmth and empathy in dealings with others.
Her kindness in interaction with every team member set a tone of grace and positivity.
Poise
Graceful and elegant bearing in a person
Poise and good deportment can be cultivated
Grace
Seemingly effortless beauty or charm of movement, form, or proportion.
Poise
Balance; equilibrium
The balance has passed the point where the spring is in poise
Grace
A characteristic or quality pleasing for its charm or refinement.
Poise
A unit of dynamic viscosity, such that a tangential force of one dyne per square centimetre causes a velocity change one centimetre per second between two parallel planes separated by one centimetre in a liquid.
Grace
A sense of fitness or propriety.
Poise
Be or cause to be balanced or suspended
He poised motionless on his toes
The world was poised between peace and war
Grace
A disposition to be generous or helpful; goodwill.
Poise
To carry or hold in equilibrium; balance
I poised the pencil on the edge of the table.
Grace
Mercy; clemency.
Poise
To cause to be ready or about to do something
She is poised to win the nomination.
Grace
A favor rendered by one who need not do so; indulgence.
Poise
To be balanced or held in suspension
She poised at the end of the diving board.
Grace
A temporary immunity or exemption; a reprieve.
Poise
Confident composure; self-possession
Answered the reporters' questions with poise.
Grace
Graces Greek & Roman Mythology Three sister goddesses, known in Greek mythology as Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia, who dispense charm and beauty.
Poise
Bearing of the body, especially when graceful
A ballerina's poise.
Grace
Divine favor bestowed freely on people, as in granting redemption from sin.
Poise
A centimeter-gram-second unit of dynamic viscosity equal to one dyne-second per square centimeter.
Grace
The state of having received such favor.
Poise
A state of balance, equilibrium or stability.
Grace
An excellence or power granted by God.
Poise
Composure; freedom from embarrassment or affectation.
Grace
A short prayer of blessing or thanksgiving said before or after a meal.
Poise
Mien; bearing or deportment of the head or body.
Grace
Grace Used with His, Her, or Your as a title and form of address for a duke, duchess, or archbishop.
Poise
A condition of hovering, or being suspended.
Grace
(Music) An appoggiatura, trill, or other musical ornament in the music of 16th and 17th century England.
Poise
(physics) A CGS unit of dynamic viscosity equal to one dyne-second per square centimetre.
Grace
To honor or favor
You grace our table with your presence.
Poise
(obsolete) Weight; an amount of weight, the amount something weighs.
Grace
To give beauty, elegance, or charm to.
Poise
The weight, or mass of metal, used in weighing, to balance the substance weighed.
Grace
(Music) To embellish with grace notes.
Poise
That which causes a balance; a counterweight.
Grace
Charming, pleasing qualities.
The Princess brought grace to an otherwise dull and boring party.
Poise
(obsolete) To hang in equilibrium; to be balanced or suspended; hence, to be in suspense or doubt.
Grace
(countable) A short prayer of thanks before or after a meal.
It has become less common to say grace before having dinner.
Poise
(obsolete) To counterpoise; to counterbalance.
Grace
In the games of patience or solitaire: a special move that is normally against the rules.
Poise
(obsolete) To be of a given weight; to weigh.
Grace
A grace note.
Poise
(obsolete) To add weight to, to weigh down.
Grace
(uncountable) Elegant movement; balance or poise.
The dancer moved with grace and strength.
Poise
To hold (something) with or against something else in equilibrium; to balance, counterpose.
Grace
An allowance of time granted to a debtor during which he or she is free of at least part of his normal obligations towards the creditor.
The repayment of the loan starts after a three-year grace.
Poise
To hold (something) in equilibrium, to hold balanced and ready; to carry (something) ready to be used.
I poised the crowbar in my hand, and waited.
To poise the scales of a balance
Grace
Free and undeserved favour, especially of God; unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration or sanctification, or for resisting sin.
Poise
To keep (something) in equilibrium; to hold suspended or balanced.
The rock was poised precariously on the edge of the cliff.
Grace
An act or decree of the governing body of an English university.
Poise
To ascertain, as if by balancing; to weigh.
Grace
(transitive) To adorn; to decorate; to embellish and dignify.
He graced the room with his presence.
He graced the room by simply being there.
His portrait graced a landing on the stairway.
Poise
Weight; gravity; that which causes a body to descend; heaviness.
Grace
(transitive) To dignify or raise by an act of favour; to honour.
Poise
The weight, or mass of metal, used in weighing, to balance the substance weighed.
Grace
(transitive) To supply with heavenly grace.
Poise
The state of being balanced by equal weight or power; equipoise; balance; equilibrium; rest.
Grace
To add grace notes, cadenzas, etc., to.
Poise
That which causes a balance; a counterweight.
Men of unbounded imagination often want the poise of judgment.
Grace
The exercise of love, kindness, mercy, favor; disposition to benefit or serve another; favor bestowed or privilege conferred.
To bow and sue for graceWith suppliant knee.
Poise
A dignified and self-confident manner; graceful composure and tact in handling difficult social situations.
Grace
The divine favor toward man; the mercy of God, as distinguished from His justice; also, any benefits His mercy imparts; divine love or pardon; a state of acceptance with God; enjoyment of the divine favor.
And if by grace, then is it no more of works.
My grace is sufficicnt for thee.
Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.
Poise
To balance; to make of equal weight; as, to poise the scales of a balance.
Grace
The prerogative of mercy execised by the executive, as pardon.
Poise
To hold or place in equilibrium or equiponderance.
Nor yet was earth suspended in the sky;Nor poised, did on her own foundation lie.
Grace
Fortune; luck; - used commonly with hard or sorry when it means misfortune.
Poise
To counterpoise; to counterbalance.
One scale of reason to poise another of sensuality.
To poise with solid sense a sprightly wit.
Grace
Inherent excellence; any endowment or characteristic fitted to win favor or confer pleasure or benefit.
He is complete in feature and in mind.With all good grace to grace a gentleman.
I have formerly given the general character of Mr. Addison's style and manner as natural and unaffected, easy and polite, and full of those graces which a flowery imagination diffuses over writing.
Poise
To ascertain, as by the balance; to weigh.
He can not sincerely consider the strength, poise the weight, and discern the evidence.
Grace
Beauty, physical, intellectual, or moral; loveliness; commonly, easy elegance of manners; perfection of form.
Grace in women gains the affections sooner, and secures them longer, than any thing else.
I shall answer and thank you again For the gift and the grace of the gift.
Poise
To weigh (down); to oppress.
Lest leaden slumber peise me down to-morrow.
Grace
Graceful and beautiful females, sister goddesses, represented by ancient writers as the attendants sometimes of Apollo but oftener of Venus. They were commonly mentioned as three in number; namely, Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia, and were regarded as the inspirers of the qualities which give attractiveness to wisdom, love, and social intercourse.
The Graces love to weave the rose.
The Loves delighted, and the Graces played.
Poise
To hang in equilibrium; to be balanced or suspended; hence, to be in suspense or doubt.
The slender, graceful sparsPoise aloft in air.
Grace
The title of a duke, a duchess, or an archbishop, and formerly of the king of England.
How fares your Grace !
Poise
A cgs unit of dynamic viscosity equal to one dyne-second per square centimeter; the viscosity of a fluid in which a force of one dyne per square centimeter maintains a velocity of 1 centimeter per second
Grace
Thanks.
Yielding graces and thankings to their lord Melibeus.
Poise
A state of being balanced in a stable equilibrium
Grace
A petition for grace; a blessing asked, or thanks rendered, before or after a meal.
Poise
Great coolness and composure under strain;
Keep your cool
Grace
Ornamental notes or short passages, either introduced by the performer, or indicated by the composer, in which case the notation signs are called grace notes, appeggiaturas, turns, etc.
Poise
Be motionless, in suspension;
The bird poised for a few moments before it attacked
Grace
An act, vote, or decree of the government of the institution; a degree or privilege conferred by such vote or decree.
Poise
Prepare (oneself) for something unpleasant or difficult
Grace
A play designed to promote or display grace of motion. It consists in throwing a small hoop from one player to another, by means of two sticks in the hands of each. Called also grace hoop or hoops.
That day of grace fleets fast away.
The grace cup follows to his sovereign's health.
To [Queen Margaret, of Scotland] . . . we owe the custom of the grace drink, she having established it as a rule at her table, that whosoever staid till grace was said was rewarded with a bumper.
Content to do the profession some grace.
What might have been done with a good grace would at leastbe done with a bad grace.
Poise
Cause to be balanced or suspended
Grace
To adorn; to decorate; to embellish and dignify.
Great Jove and Phoebus graced his noble line.
We are graced with wreaths of victory.
Poise
Hold or carry in equilibrium
Grace
To dignify or raise by an act of favor; to honor.
He might, at his pleasure, grace or disgrace whom he wouldin court.
Grace
To supply with heavenly grace.
Grace
To add grace notes, cadenzas, etc., to.
Grace
(Bhristian theology) a state of sanctification by God; the state of one who under such divine influence;
The conception of grace developed alongside the conception of sin
It was debated whether saving grace could be obtained outside the membership of the church
The Virgin lived in a state of grace
Grace
Elegance and beauty of movement or expression
Grace
A sense of propriety and consideration for others
Grace
A disposition to kindness and compassion; benign good will;
The victor's grace in treating the vanquished
Grace
(Greek mythology) one of three sisters who were the givers of beauty and charm; a favorite subject for sculptors
Grace
A short prayer of thanks before a meal
Grace
(Christian theology) the free and unmerited favor or beneficence of God;
God's grace is manifested in the salvation of sinners
There but for the grace of God go I
Grace
Make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.;
Decorate the room for the party
Beautify yourself for the special day
Grace
Be beautiful to look at;
Flowers adorned the tables everywhere
Common Curiosities
Does grace only refer to physical movement?
While often associated with movement, grace also encompasses gracious behavior and interactions, reflecting a broader concept of elegance.
Is grace a cultural concept?
Grace can be influenced by cultural standards of elegance and courtesy, but it's a universal concept appreciated in various cultural contexts.
Can poise help in professional development?
Absolutely, poise is highly valued in professional settings as it reflects confidence, reliability, and the ability to handle pressure.
Does the concept of poise vary across cultures?
The core idea of poise as composure and confidence is consistent, but cultural norms can influence its expression and perception.
Is grace more important than poise in artistic performances?
In performances, grace often takes precedence due to the emphasis on visual and emotional expression, though poise can also contribute to a performer's presence.
Can someone have both poise and grace?
Yes, an individual can exhibit both poise and grace, combining internal composure with elegant external expressions.
Can poise impact personal relationships?
Yes, poise can positively impact relationships by fostering trust and respect through composed and confident interactions.
Is poise inherent or can it be developed?
While some may naturally possess poise, it can certainly be developed through mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and experience.
Are there exercises to develop grace?
Physical activities like dance, yoga, or martial arts can improve grace by enhancing coordination and fluidity of movement.
Can lack of grace be overcome in professional settings?
Yes, with awareness and effort, one can improve gracefulness in professional interactions, enhancing their overall effectiveness and rapport.
How can one improve their grace in social situations?
Practicing mindfulness, being aware of one's movements, and adopting a considerate and empathetic approach to interactions can enhance grace.
Does having poise mean never showing emotion?
Poise involves controlling emotions in a healthy manner, not suppressing them, allowing for appropriate emotional expression.
How do poise and grace complement each other?
Poise provides the internal foundation of confidence and composure, while grace adds an external layer of elegance and charm, enhancing overall demeanor.
Can someone be taught grace, or is it innate?
While some may have a natural inclination towards grace, it can also be cultivated through practice and awareness of one's actions and interactions.
Are there role models or public figures known for their poise and grace?
Many public figures and leaders are admired for their poise and grace, serving as role models for those qualities in various fields.
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Written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
Edited by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
