Quizzicalness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A state embodying an air of curiosity intertwined with confusion
2. The characteristic of expressing mild bewilderment or uncertainty in a situation
3. A manner of showing doubt mixed with interest or amusement

Etymology: "Quizzical" is the base here, and "-ness" is the English suffix that turns an adjective into a noun for a quality, so "quizzicalness" is simply the state of being quizzical. The base word itself is the more interesting part: "quizzical" was an 18th-century formation, and its origins are murky, with the odd, teasing sense of "quizzing" (mocking or staring at someone) probably the root of the adjective's later meaning of puzzled or wry. The suffix "-ness" is native English, descending from Old English "-nes(s)", and it has been used productively for centuries to build abstract nouns from adjectives. That productivity explains why a long form like this one can appear without any special history of its own. It is a regular, transparent coinage rather than a word with a dramatic past.

Synonyms: curiousness, inquisitiveness

Antonyms: indifference