forwardness

[fawr-werd-nis]

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noun

overreadiness to push oneself forward; lack of appropriate modesty; presumption; boldness.

cheerful readiness; promptness; eagerness.

condition of being in advance.

Nearby words

Origin of forwardness

First recorded in 1515–25; forward + -ness

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for forwardness

It gives you the sense of the forwardness of history as well as the backwardness.
Archbishop Pitches on Youtube For More Souls As He Prepares To Christen George|Tom Sykes|October 22, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Something like (forgive my forwardness) “No representation without taxation.”
How the Wall Street Protesters Win|Lee Siegel|October 14, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The Otaheiteans have the most perfect easiness of manners, equally free from forwardness and formality.
A Voyage to the South Sea|William Bligh
He knew that his father and brothers might rebuke him for forwardness if he presumed to thrust himself into notice.
In the Wars of the Roses|Evelyn Everett-Green

Diffidence when forced to action often verges on forwardness.
The Further Adventures of Quincy Adams Sawyer and Mason's Corner Folks|Charles Felton Pidgin
The almond, the hardiest plant, loses its fruit the oftenest on account of its forwardness.
Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson|Thomas Jefferson
In later life, it is different: in the experienced woman, forwardness is always depravity.
Godolphin, Complete|Edward Bulwer-Lytton

British Dictionary definitions for forwardness

forwardness

noun

lack of modesty; presumption; boldness

willing readiness; eagerness

a state or condition of advanced progress or development

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for forwardness