preciosity
/ˌpɹɛʃiˈɑsəti/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
4
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The quality of being overly refined in an affected way (often used to describe speech or writing, but also visual art and dress).
Derogatory; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "1902, R. Langton Douglas, A History of Siena, New York: E.P. Dutton, Chapter 18, p. 385, [Italian renaissance painter Neroccio] had the fastidiousness, the preciosity, the love of archaisms, of your true decadent."
- "It is […] a section of society where everybody talks and poses, where pedantry masquerades as knowledge, sentimentality as sentiment, and preciosity as delicacy and refinement;"
- "1916, John Cowper Powys, “Oscar Wilde” in Suspended Judgments, New York: G. Arnold Shaw, p. 416, The style of Wilde is one of the simplest in existence, but its simplicity is the very apex and consummation of the artificial. He uses Biblical language with that self-conscious preciosity—like the movements of a person walking on tiptoe in the presence of the dead—which is so different from the sturdy directness of Bunyan or the restrained rhetoric of the Church of England prayers."
- "He was dressed very well and carefully, she thought, and wondered whether Arthur’s preciosity in the matter of clothing influenced his staff."
- "“O Father Master, is it possible! (exclaimed the Beneficiary ready to roll about the floor with laughing) is it possible that such preciosities are printed! […]”"
- "1913, John Hay Beith (as Ian Hay), Happy-Go-Lucky, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Book 3, Chapter 12, p. 151, “Yes, mother mine,” she replied. (Sylvia was rather addicted to little preciosities of this kind.)"
Etymology
From Middle English preciosite, from Middle French preciosité, from Latin pretiōsitās (“great value; high price”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: preciosite, preciosité, pretiōsitās
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌpɹɛʃiˈɑsəti/
- British English: /ˌpɹɛʃiˈɒsəti/