childness means the manner that is characteristic of a child; the quality of being childlike, especially those aspects of childhood that are positive, such as innocence, playfulness, trust, and openness. It carries an Arena rating of 1704, earned across 54 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, childness ranks #1,122 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #3,784 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #4,592 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #8,517 of 17,163 for Funniest Words.
Why “childness” is a great word
CHILDNESS — [Noun] The quality or manner characteristic of a child, especially the positive aspects such as innocence, playfulness, trust, and openness. From Middle English child ("child") + the noun-forming suffix -ness ("state, quality"). First recorded in use before 1616. Unlike "childishness" (which implies petulant immaturity) or "adulthood" (which suggests the settled gravity of maturity), childness is the preserved capacity for unfiltered engagement with the world. It is the absolute concentration on a ladybug traversing a blade of grass, the uncalculating weight of a small body asleep in your arms, and the unguarded brilliance of a laugh given freely to a stranger—a fleeting state of grace that adulthood remembers as a sovereign kingdom it once inhabited without knowing it was there.
Etymology
From child + -ness.
noun
- The manner that is characteristic of a child; the quality of being childlike, especially those aspects of childhood that are positive, such as innocence, playfulness, trust, and openness.e.g.“He makes a July's day short as December, And with his varying childness cures in me Thoughts that would thick my blood.” — c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, pu
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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