staidness

English

Etymology

staid +‎ -ness

Noun

staidness (usually uncountable, plural staidnesses)

1. The state or characteristic of being staid.
   • 1836, Charles Dickens, chapter 7, in Sketches of Boz:

     It is difficult to say whether Mr. John Dounce's red countenance, illuminated as it was by the flickering gas-light in the window before which he paused, excited the lady's risibility, or whether a natural exuberance of animal spirits proved too much for that staidness of demeanour which the forms of society rather dictatorially prescribe.

   • 1887, Charlotte M. Yonge, chapter 22, in Under the Storm:

     [T]here was a staidness and sobriety about her demeanour that kept all impertinence at a distance.

Anagrams

• Daensists, disassent