young-ladyism
English edit
Etymology edit
From young lady + -ism.
Noun edit
- (dated) Behaviour befitting, or typical of, a young lady.
- 1860, Grace Wharton, Philip Wharton, The Queens of Society:
- Though Lady Mary had none of the young-ladyism or sentimentality of girls of her age, we are not to suppose her either hard or masculine.
- 1869–1870, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, “New Fashions”, in An Old-Fashioned Girl, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, published 1870, →OCLC, page 31:
- […] Fanny, forgetful of her young-ladyism and her sixteen years, had boxed Tom's ears, and Tom, resenting the insult, had forcibly seated her in the coal-hod, where he held her with one hand while he returned the compliment with the other.