fallenness means the quality of being fallen or degraded. It carries an Arena rating of 1212, earned across 8 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, fallenness ranks #2,976 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #4,356 of 17,151 for The Improbable, #6,147 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #6,774 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words.
Why “fallenness” is a great word
A fundamental state of moral degradation, of having descended from a prior condition of grace or innocence. From fallen (past participle of 'fall', meaning to descend to a lower, degraded state) + the noun-forming suffix -ness (indicating a state or quality). First attested in 1828 in the writing of Edward Irving. Unlike "innocence," which implies an unsullied beginning, or "depravity," which suggests an active, acquired wickedness, fallenness describes the quiet, irrevocable stain on the canvas itself. It is the crack in a foundation that cannot be patched, the tarnish on silver no polish can remove, and the specific gravity that pulls every noble intention back toward earth—a recognition that to exist is already to be compromised.
Etymology
From fallen + -ness.
noun
- The quality of being fallen or degraded.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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