impassivity en · NOUN
Etymology
Etymology tree English impassive Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts Latin -itāsder. Old French -itebor. Middle English -ite English -ity English impassivity From impassive + -ity.
Meanings
-
(uncountable, usually) The state of being impassive.
He wore gold-rimmed pince-nez, and had a curious impassivity of feature. It struck me that he might look natural on a stage, but was strangely out of place in real life.
1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 10:[T]hey were baffled by tears in moustached sixth-formers, by walls of impassivity in the Lower School, by silent conspiracies which nullified the rules.
1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 37:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| impassivities | Number=Plur | lexicographic |