cussedness

English

Etymology

cussed +‎ -ness

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

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Noun

cussedness (usually uncountable, plural cussednesses)

1. (dated) The state or quality of being cussed.
   • c. 1905, Arthur Quiller-Couch, Frenchman's Creek:

     Well, if ever a man was born bad in his temper, 'twas Captain Bligh. . . . They made an Admiral of him in the end, but they never cured his cussedness.

   • 1910, Jack London, chapter 11, in Burning Daylight:

     Full of vinegar and all-round cussedness, but without malice. Just as soon kill you as not, but in a playful sort of way, you understand, without meaning to at all.

   • 1922, B. M. Bower, chapter 2, in The Trail of the White Mule:

     He made camp there that night, pitching his little tent in the trail for pure cussedness, and defying aloud a traveling world to make him move until he got good and ready.

Synonyms

• cantankerousness, nastiness, obstinacy, orneriness, perversity

References

• “cussedness”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.