preciosity

American  

[presh-ee-os-i-tee] / ˌprɛʃ iˈɒs ɪ ti /

noun

plural

preciosities

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

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preciosity British  

/ ˌprɛʃɪˈɒsɪtɪ /

noun

1. fastidiousness or affectation, esp in speech or manners

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Etymology

Origin of preciosity

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

Example Sentences

She flirts with preciosity, particularly in her overbearing use of Keaton.

From Washington Post • Jan. 25, 2022

Despite the formidable artistry exerted by its actors on its realization, “Brooklyn” isn’t so much a bad movie as it is a virtual self-parody of a genre—that of the minor, dignified, clean-hands art-house preciosity.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 6, 2015

Author Lee, 34, an Alabaman, has written her first novel with all of the tactile brilliance and none of the preciosity generally supposed to be standard swamp-warfare issue for Southern writers.

From Time • Feb. 3, 2015

On Tuesday, there was a lot of the arch diction and twee preciosity, long the stereotype in Britten performance.

From New York Times • Dec. 4, 2013

The flowing gestures of this young man, his fluting accents, poetic eyes, and modestly ingratiating moustache, the preciosity of his taste in dress, assorted singularly with an austere devotion to duty rare if unaffected.

From The False Faces Further Adventures from the History of the Lone Wolf by Vance, Louis Joseph