incivility means the state of being uncivil; lack of courtesy; rudeness in manner. It carries an Arena rating of 1585, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, incivility ranks #5,461 of 17,135 for Most Malleable Words, #5,989 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #6,007 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #7,240 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
incivility is pronounced /ɪnsɪˈvɪlɪti/.
Why “incivility” is a great word
The deliberate choice to disregard social norms of courtesy through rudeness or discourtesy. From Late Latin incīvīlitās, from Latin incivilis ("impolite, uncivil"), from the privative prefix in- ("not") + civilis ("belonging to a citizen, urbane, courteous"), from civis ("citizen"). First attested in English in the mid-16th century. Unlike "barbarism," which suggests a fundamental cultural primitiveness, or "hostility," which implies active, targeted enmity, incivility is the petty abrasion of the social contract. It is the pointed silence where a greeting is due, the cold efficiency of an email devoid of salutation, the public speaker drowned out by a private conversation—the quiet, accumulating corrosion of the shared space we are compelled to inhabit, a slow leaching of warmth from the civic fabric.
Etymology
From Middle French incivilité, from Late Latin incivilitas (“incivility”), from Latin incivilis (“impolite, uncivil”), from in- (privative prefix) + civilis (“belonging to a citizen, civic, political, urbane, courteous, civil”) (from civis (“a citizen”)), equivalent to in- + civility.
noun
- The state of being uncivil; lack of courtesy; rudeness in manner.e.g.“Courtezan. How say you now? is not your husband mad? / Adriana. His incivility confirms no less.” — c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, pu
- Any act of rudeness or ill-breeding.
- Lack of civilization; a state of rudeness or barbarism.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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