When someone is described as being opinionated what is the* speaker *really trying to say? Does the term imply an inherent quantitative or qualitative judgment to you? In any event, I’m convinced it’s a loaded term. That’s my firm opinion anyway. And no matter what you say, you will never convince me otherwise.
It’s a neutral term, without any pejorative connotations, and nothing you can say will ever convince me otherwise. They should let me write the dictionaries instead of those fools. Whateva, I do what I want.
Completely opinionless people being rare, the use of the term implies “more opinionated than usual” and it does have the connotation of “has more strong opinions than reasons to hold them”. Yes, in practice it tends to translate as “has strong opinions that the speaker doesn’t agree with”, mostly because those would be the opinions that the speaker would regard as not being backed by sufficient reasons to hold them.
I would weigh “style” over “substance”, in that I might use the term to apply to an overly vocal person who I do not disagree with.
I have always interpreted “opinionated” to mean someone who holds a firm opinion on one or more topics, who is more resistant than usual to an “open minded” discussion on that topic.
An opinionated person is not always closed minded about every topic. For someone who was, I would probably use a different descriptor.
I consider it a loaded term, meaning someone who is loud about expressing their opinions, and has to chime in with their opinion regardless of the topic. They make their presence known.
Hearing the term applied to a person I would think they have either strong or detailed opinions on many subjects. I would also think it’s a way of saying they like to argue. You could easily say “Dopers are highly opinionated”.
Yes, I agree. I could also add that it means the person is convinced they are right and is out to prove everyone else wrong. They are known for unsolicited pontifications that are annoying and unwelcome.
Code word for Loud-Mouth Asshole.
I use it (rarely) to mean someone who has strong opinions about a surprisingly large range of things, including things about which the person has no direct experience or knowledge. Kind of like Cliff Claven having something to say about everything, only with strong opinions instead of just being boring.
“Opinionated” is almost always used in a negative way. Especially to denote someone who doesn’t truly the understand the full situation, but feels the need to spout off anyway. Or someone who doesn’t let facts get in the way of their agenda.
I actually have quite a visceral reaction to the word, because of an important personal experience. When I was about 13 I told my parents that I thought their religious beliefs were silly nonsense, and that I wasn’t going to church any more. I have a distinct memory of my father telling me I was “opinionated”… followed of course by many months of conflict over the issue, during which it was made clear to me that I was going straight to hell with teh gays if I didn’t mend my ways and ask Jeebus to forgive me. “Backsliders” are the worst.
So - negative connotations, yes, I’d say so.
I’d say it’s a negatively loaded word. Depending on the context, I interpret it to mean either:
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“Having opinions which conflict with mine” (because if we agreed, I would think of them as facts rather than opinions), or
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“Having a large number of unnecessary opinions on things that aren’t any of his business.” In other words, a busy-body.
I generally think of the term as saying that not only does the person have strong opinions, as described above, but that he also makes a point of sharing them at every opportunity.
Having opinions unsupported by evidence and impervious to counter-evidence.
Someone very confident and very vocal about her own point of view.
I’ve seen it used both negatively and positively (as it implies confidence) but I’ve never heard it refer to a man. It might be used for both genders, but the greatest connotation I’ve got is the “strong, assertive woman” stereotype.
I don’t think it implies anything about the merit of the opinions.
Dopers are definitely opinionated!
Someone who can’t change his mind, and won’t change the subject.
Many words in the language have acquired a weighted connotation, either positive or negative. “Opinionated” has a neutral dictionary definition, but its usage now implies a negative connotation about the person being described. The word is rarely used to describe a person whose opinions are the same as those of the speaker.
According to the OED, it originally entered the language in the late 16th century with a sense of “have a [usually, specified] opinion” - as in “John was a Unitarian; his wife was similarly opinionated”, meaning John’s wife also held Unitarian beliefs.
However that sense is now obsolete, having been superseded at an early stage by the pejorative sense of holding opinions more strongly than is warranted; obstinate; conceited. That is now the dominant sense.
The OED does note a further, recently-developed sense, occurring only in US English - “holding firm views or opinions”, but not necessarily to an excessive degree. The first citation dates only from 1961, and the dictionary notes that in many contexts it may be unclear whether someone using the word intends the pejorative sense, or the more neutral sense.
It has a negative connotation to my ear. An opinionated person isn’t just someone who isn’t afraid to express their opinions. They express negative opinions to an excessive degree.