mannerism

American  

[man-uh-riz-uhm] / ˈmæn əˌrɪz əm /

noun

1. a habitual or characteristic manner, mode, or way of doing something; distinctive quality or style, as in behavior or speech.

   He has an annoying mannerism of tapping his fingers while he talks. They copied his literary mannerisms but always lacked his ebullience.

2. marked or excessive adherence to an unusual or a particular manner, especially if affected.

   Natural courtesy is a world apart from snobbish mannerism.

3. (usually initial capital letter) a style in the fine arts developed principally in Europe during the 16th century, chiefly characterized by a complex perspectival system, elongation of forms, strained gestures or poses of figures, and intense, often strident color.

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mannerism British  

/ ˈmænəˌrɪzəm /

noun

1. a distinctive and individual gesture or trait; idiosyncrasy

2. (often capital) a principally Italian movement in art and architecture between the High Renaissance and Baroque periods (1520–1600) that sought to represent an ideal of beauty rather than natural images of it, using characteristic distortion and exaggeration of human proportions, perspective, etc

3. adherence to a distinctive or affected manner, esp in art or literature

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Other Word Forms

• mannerist
  noun
• manneristic
  adjective
• manneristically
  adverb
• nonmanneristic
  adjective
• semimanneristic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of mannerism

First recorded in 1795–1805; manner ¹ + -ism

Explanation

Does someone you know always shrug in a particular way or say "You know what I mean?" at the end of every sentence? Well, that's a mannerism, a habitual gesture or way of speaking. Generally, we don't use then term mannerism as a critical term for our friends' behavior, but when applied as a term of art criticism, it can be a negative thing. If a critic talks about a writer's mannerisms, for example, it's probably intended as an insult — suggesting they're writing in a lazy or clichéd way. However, Mannerism, with a capital "M," refers to a specific 16th-century Italian style of painting known for its artificial (as opposed to naturalistic) effects.

Example Sentences

Other aspects of the building have been attributed to his chief assistant, Giulio Romano, who worked in Raphael’s studio for years before going on to forge the new style of Mannerism.

From The New Yorker • Sep. 12, 2016

So while Barocci holds an important place in art history as the missing link between the strained distortions of Mannerism and the dynamism of the baroque, he has left little impression on the public consciousness.

From The Guardian • Feb. 16, 2013

A remarkable iron door-knocker forged in late 17th century France has a so-called “grotesque” mask inspired by Italian Mannerism.

From New York Times • May 28, 2010

Mannerism had many fascinations, but the Bolognese scholar Count Carlo Cesare Malvasia set the general tone when he dismissed the style a century later as “far from verisimilitude, not to mention from the truth itself.”

From Washington Post

Mannerism, Stanmore--mannerism is the great enemy of art.

From M. or N. "Similia similibus curantur." by Whyte-Melville, G.J.

Related Words

• eccentricity
• idiosyncrasy
• quirk
• trait