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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

accismus en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ækˈsɪzməs/

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin accismus, from Ancient Greek ακκισμός (akkismós, “prudery”).

Meanings

  1. (rhetoric, uncountable) The feigning of disinterest in something while actually desiring it.
    • The keen eye of the ancient comedians detected this weakness in Athenian demagogues who declined office with a view to making their election surer, and Philippides gave it the name accismus. 1888 March 8, The Nation, number 1184, page 188:
    • On this account, mothers, fathers, men, and even youths, are their best companions; on the contrary, girls connected with other girls of a similar age, as in schools, provoke one another to an exchange of foibles, rather than of excellences, to a love of dress, admiration, and gossip, even to the forgetting of accismus. 1866, Jean Paul, Levana: Or, The Doctrine of Education, page 194:

Relateds

neg · play hard to get

Translations (3)

fr accisme (feigning disinterest in something while actually desiring it.) · pt acismo (feigning disinterest in something while actually desiring it.) · nl accismus (feigning disinterest in something while actually desiring it.)