Squashinesses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality or state of being soft and yielding under pressure
2. The condition of being easily compressed or deformed by weight or force
3. A measure of the degree to which an object can be squished or flattened

Etymology: Squashinesses is the plural of "squashiness", a noun formed from the adjective "squashy" and the suffix "-ness", which turns an adjective into a noun for a quality. The plural form is used when speaking of several instances or varieties of that quality. "Squashy" itself comes from "squash", the verb meaning to crush or flatten something by pressing it, so the core idea of the word is something that yields under pressure and is easily flattened. The base word, "squash", has its own origin in the sense of pressing or crushing. "Squashy" adds the adjectival suffix "-y", giving the sense "tending to be squashed" or soft enough to deform. Adding "-ness" then produced the abstract noun for that condition, and English speakers pluralized it to describe multiple kinds of softness or compressibility.