Precioseness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of being highly valued or dear to someone ; an excessive fussiness or affected refinement in manner, speech, or style
2. Great worth or value held by something ; an overly delicate, mannered affectation in behavior or writing
3. The state of being cherished for its worth ; a self-conscious, overly refined and affected quality in art or conduct

Etymology: "Preciousness" is the older, more common form, and "preciousness" in its sense of affected refinement is what this word names. The base is "precious", which came into English from Old French "precios", from Latin "pretiosus", meaning "of great price" or "valuable", from "pretium", "price". The word's earliest English senses were about worth: something costly, or something dear to someone's heart. The affected sense developed later, as "precious" began to describe speech and manners that were overly refined and fussy. The idea was that someone was guarding their language or style too carefully, valuing its polish above sincerity. "Preciousness" followed that path, so the noun now covers both the literal value of a thing and the strained elegance of a person who cares too much about how they appear. The suffix "-ness" is a native English ending that turns an adjective into a noun for a quality, so the word is a straightforward pairing of an English suffix with a French-derived adjective. Its two meanings sit on the same root, one describing price and the other describing pretension.