coltishness

Etymology

From coltish + -ness.

Why this word is great

COLTISHNESS — [Noun] The quality of resembling a colt, especially in being lively, playful, and undisciplined or in being tall, thin, and awkward. From Middle English coltyssh (colt + -ish) + -ness (forming abstract nouns indicating a state or quality). Unlike "playfulness" (which is broad and unmarked) or "awkwardness" (which is purely stumbling), coltishness is exuberance tangled with growth—a kinetic grace still learning its limbs. It is the teenager tripping over their own feet mid-dance, the foal’s legs splaying wildly in a spring meadow, or the way laughter spills unchecked from someone who has not yet learned to measure joy. A fleeting state, poised between abandon and control.

noun

The quality of resembling a colt, especially:; The quality of being lively, playful and undisciplined.“The grand thing is to get rid of dogged sulks and coltishness—of that wayward, swerving, hesitating gait, which says, “Here’s my foot, and there’s my foot,” or “There is a lion in the street, I cannot go forth!””
The quality of resembling a colt, especially:; The quality of being tall, thin and awkward (usually of a young person).“Though only a year younger than Reuben, in the midst of the awkward age, his growing limbs quite lacked the coltishness of his brother’s.”