setnessEtymologyFrom set + -ness. Not apparently continuing Old English setnes and Middle English setnesse, which are morphologically identical. First attested in the 1640s.setness means the quality or state of being set; formality; obstinacy. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.nounThe quality or state of being set; formality; obstinacy.“the starched setness of a sententious writer”