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Glite Dictionary
preciosity

preciosity

9.9
A style that is too fussy and fancy in speech or writing
  • noun
  • /prɛˈsɪsɪti/
  • Literature
translation icon : preciosidad
  • The critic noted that the film's preciosity took away from its overall impact, making it feel overly polished and insincere.

Examples

  • Over-ascription of meaning is halfway to preciosity, and we need to keep our imprint light on the world.

    Academic text (2013)

  • Italy and Dubrovnik supplied other fineries and preciosities for the new class that rapidly developed expensive tastes.

    Academic text (1993)

  • "It even offends good taste, and the ideal of beauty was all too tempting a pretext for good taste, preciosity, prettiness, and sentimentality.

    Academic text (1994)

  • The author's preciosity in his writing made it difficult for some readers to connect with the story.

  • Her preciosity in taste was evident when she refused to eat anything that wasn't presented with artistic flair.

Synonyms

pretentiousness
vspreciosity
  • Offensive
2 7.7

Acting like you are more important or more educated than you really are

is about affected refinement of style and taste not impression or status
preciousness
vspreciosity
1 8.0

A quality of being too formal and showing off in style

is the same meaning but used as an alternate form
foppishness
vspreciosity
  • Offensive
9.9

A way of dressing and behaving that is very showy and vain

emphasizes refinement and affectation in taste rather than fashion alone
frilliness
vspreciosity
7.2

A lot of extra decoration that looks showy

focuses on refined, fastidious taste rather than just ornament or decoration

Antonyms

simplicity
63 1.7

Being easy to understand and not complicated

naturalness
1 3.9

Being genuine and not showing forced or fake feelings

How Affected

affectation
11 8.6
preciosity
  • Literature
9.9
refinement
10 5.9
simplicity
10 2.7
naturalness
1 3.9

Surface Forms

preciosity singular
preciosities plural

Morphology

preciosity = precious (transparent) = precious + ity

Formed by the regular adjective-to-noun derivation 'precious' + '-ity'; the meaning 'the quality of being precious/affectedly refined' follows productive English patterns, though the noun is somewhat literary/rare.

Etymology

Preciosity comes from the same root as precious, which means 'valuable'. Long ago in France the word préciosité described a showy, over-refined way of speaking and acting, so preciosity now means the quality of being 'too refined' or affected.