Dictionary

incisivity en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ɪnsaɪˈsɪvɪtɪ/
• ĭnsīsĭvʹĭtĭ

Etymology

Formed as incisiv(e) + -ity.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) The quality of being incisive; penetrating trenchancy; incisiveness.
   • A true witness of his times and the men that have lived in them, [Al. Rosetti] has sketched with a firm hand unforgettable portraits of an illustrious series of friends, in a ‘White Book[’], and has never disclosed the virulent pages in which he describes human larvae with the incisivity of steel engravings for a possible Black Book. 1980, Romanian Review, numbers 1-4, page 104:
   • Their personality features concern: the desire of assuming intellectual risks, perseverance in solving problems, curiosity and incisivity, opening to new experience, working discipline, intolerance to the rules and limits imposed by others, searching for competence, reflexivity, tolerance to ambiguity, intuition, direct and spontaneous interest for work, a wide variety of interests. 1996, Academia Română, Revue Roumaine de Psychologie (Editura Academiei), volumes 40–41, page 130
   • [T]hey pertain mainly to the anthropological perspective, to the specific language it uses and, last but not least, to a lack of courage and incisivity. 1982, Pontificio Ateneo Salesiano Istituto Superiore di Pedagogia, Orientamenti Pedagogici (Società Editrice Internazionale), volume 29, page 787
   • Based on a ‘whirling sketch’, now in Lille, it depicts ‘profiles of extraordinary incisivity’ that fully support the circularity of the tondo form, showing a ‘miraculous unity of linear dynamism and plastic solidity’ (Carli 1983: 112). 2007, Árpád Szakolczai, Sociology, Religion, and Grace: A Quest for the Renaissance, page 295:
   • The remarkable tenor qualities of De Muro, especially in the ardent incisivity of his high register, the manly warmth of his tone and his exceptional breathing (Fiato), as well as his uncommon qualities of interpretation, capable of violent dramatic impulse and of lyric inflexion, remain documented in the excerpts he recorded of “Isabeau” in 1912, a testimony, at least auditive, of what was his legendary Folco. 1967, James F. E. Dennis, editor, The Record Collector: A Magazine for Collectors of Recorded Vocal Art, volumes 17-18, self-published, page 56:
   • The humorous writer caught not only the sound of dialogues and words, but also their human substance, the circumstance in which they were uttered, and afterwards, recasting everything, [I. L. Caragiale] produced, out of his inexhaustible retort, highly vivid, authentic types, either moulded with kindness or drawn with incisivity. […] [T]o promote society by purging it of its vices[: t]o this end [comedy writers] make good use of the incisivity of the satire. 1983, Simion Alterescu (editor), An Abridged History of Romanian Theatre (Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România), pages 59 and 144