heepishness means Fawning, cloying servility and obsequiousness. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why this word is great
HEEPISHNESS — [Noun] A state of fawning, cloying servility and obsequiousness, characterized by insincere humility. From Heepish (resembling the character Uriah Heep) + -ness (state or quality). The root 'Heepish' derives from the name of the Charles Dickens character Uriah Heep, noted for his hypocritical and servile humility. Unlike *humility* (which implies a genuine, unassuming modesty) or *servility* (which may denote simple abjection), *heepishness* is the performance of lowliness as a calculated lubricant for advancement. It is the clammy handshake held a moment too long, the syrupy protestation of one’s own unworthiness that demands contradiction, and the strategic, downward glance that is actually a calculation of ascent—a pantomime of deference that reveals how often the mask of submission is merely a tactic for conquest.
noun
- Fawning, cloying servility and obsequiousness.“The stories circulated about the measures taken for the Plague were, as Professor Gokhlee admitted in his apology, which we have to-day the advantage of reading in its full Heepishness, a mere pack of lies.”