preciosity

[presh-ee-os-i-tee]

noun, plural pre·ci·os·i·ties.

fastidious or carefully affected refinement, as in language, style, or taste.

Origin of preciosity

1350–1400; Middle English preciousite < Middle French preciosite < Latin pretiōsitās. See precious, -ity

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

Examples from the Web for preciosity

In spite of the beauty of Galahauts devotion, its logic and preciosity scarcely throb with manhoods blood.
The Mediaeval Mind (Volume I of II)|Henry Osborn Taylor
The poem recalls Drummond of Hawthornden, not only by the rhythm, but also by a certain ‘preciosity’ of diction and imagery.
The Age of Tennyson|Hugh Walker
Walter Pater's essay on Style is honeycombed with involutions and preciosity.
Unicorns|James Huneker
It is difficult to resist the sense of a strain for bizarre harmony, of a touch of preciosity.
Symphonies and Their Meaning; Third Series, Modern Symphonies|Philip H. Goepp

It is only that, in seeking to compensate himself for his infecundity, he has fallen into the deep sea of preciosity.
Musical Portraits|Paul Rosenfeld

British Dictionary definitions for preciosity

preciosity

noun plural -ties

fastidiousness or affectation, esp in speech or manners

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