procacity means the state of being procacious; forwardness, pertness, or petulance, or an instance thereof. It carries an Arena rating of 1572, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, procacity ranks #3,875 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #5,800 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #6,689 of 17,151 for The Improbable, #7,287 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words.
Why “procacity” is a great word
Procacity is the quality of being impudently forward, insolently pert, and presumptuously bold. Its etymology is precise: from the Latin *procacitas* ("impudence, forwardness"), from *procax*, *procac-* ("impudent, bold"). Unlike "impudence," the blunt term for disrespect, or "audacity," which can cloak admiration in its shock, procacity is a rarer, literary venom—the specific petulance of presumption. It is the smirk on a courtier's lips just past the king's line of sight, the unasked-for correction delivered in a syrupy tone, and the relentless, knowing tug on a sleeve—a minor aggression that clouds the air like a bad perfume, proving how small sharpnesses can hollow out dignity.
Etymology
From Middle French procacité, from Latin procācitās (whence -acity), from Latin procāx (“bold, impudent”), from procō (“ask, demand”), from procus (“suitor”).
noun
- The state of being procacious; forwardness, pertness, or petulance, or an instance thereof.e.g.“In vain are all your flatteries, In vain are all your knaveries, Delights, deceipts, procacities, Sighs, kisses, and conspiracies, And what e're is done by art, To bewitch a lovers heart.” — 1624, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy: What it Is, with All the Kinds, Causes, Symptomes, Prognostickes, and Seuerall Cures of it : in Three Partitions, with Their Severall Sections, Members
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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