Gracelessness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of showing no grace or elegance in movement, appearance, or behavior
2. A state marked by awkwardness or roughness lacking smoothness or charm
3. The characteristic of being unpolished and having no fluidity or beauty in actions or style

Etymology: Gracelessness is a plain English compound: the adjective "graceless" with the suffix "-ness" added to turn a quality into a noun. The suffix has a long pedigree. It descends from an ancient Germanic ending that formed nouns of state or quality, and it reached English through Old English "-nes" and Middle English "-nesse," so the same building block that makes "kindness" or "darkness" is at work here. The adjective underneath it, "graceless," is older and more striking. "Grace" carries the sense of favour, mercy and elegance, so a graceless thing lacks both the fine polish of movement and the easy charm of style. Gracelessness, then, names the absence of that quality: the stiff, clumsy manner of a person or the unpolished look of a piece of writing.

Synonyms: clumsiness, awkwardness, inelegance

Antonyms: gracefulness, elegance