🧑‍💼 Formality or stiffness 🍚 A lot of starch 👔 Stiff fabric

starchiness

1 5.0

The stiffness of fabric that makes clothes feel firm and crisp

noun
/ˈstɑːr.tʃi.nəs/

: rigidez

The starchiness of the dress shirt made it look crisp and professional, but it was less comfortable to wear.

Examples

He disliked the starchiness in his new dress shirt because it made movement uncomfortable.
After washing, the starchiness of the curtains disappeared and they hung more naturally.
The starchiness of the tablecloth made it look elegant but feel a bit rough.
The starchiness of his shirt made him feel uncomfortable.
I prefer a shirt without any starchiness.
She appreciated the starchiness of the tablecloth, as it added structure to the dinner setting.
His new curtains had a noticeable starchiness that made them stand out, but they felt stiff to the touch.

Synonyms

crustiness

vsstarchiness

1 4.6

A hard dry outer layer on things like bread or skin

is stiff and crisp through an entire fabric after a stiffening treatment

Antonyms

flexibility

27 3.0

Ability to bend or change shape without breaking

How Stiff

stiffness

13 3.9

starchiness

1 5.0

crispness

2 2.8

limpness

1 4.1

suppleness

1 4.5

Surface Forms

starchiness singular

starchinesses plural

Morphology

starchiness = starchy (transparent) = starch + y + ness

A direct noun-forming derivation from the adjective 'starchy' meaning stiff after being starched; meaning is literal and predictable.

Etymology

Starchiness comes from the practice of using starch to make cloth 'stiff' and 'crisp'. So starchiness describes the quality of fabric that feels hard or holds its shape after being starched.