Dictionary

cussedness en · NOUN

Pronunciation

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Etymology

Etymology tree English cussed Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English cussedness From cussed + -ness.

Meanings

1. (dated, uncountable, usually) The state or quality of being cussed.
   • 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. c. 1905, Arthur Quiller-Couch, Frenchman's Creek:
   • 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. 1922, B. M. Bower, chapter 2, in The Trail of the White Mule:
   • 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. 1910, Jack London, chapter 11, in Burning Daylight:

Forms

Synonyms

nastiness · obstinacy · perversity · cantankerousness · orneriness