sincerity means the quality or state of being sincere. It carries an Arena rating of 1754, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, sincerity ranks #3,192 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #5,282 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #7,532 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #10,113 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words.
sincerity is pronounced /sɪnˈsɛɹəti/.
Why “sincerity” is a great word
The quality of being genuinely what one appears to be, free from all pretense or deception. From Middle English sinceritie, from Old French sincerité and Medieval Latin sincēritās, both from Latin sincēritās, from sincērus ('pure, clean, untainted') + -tās (noun-forming suffix). Unlike 'candor,' which emphasizes a blunt, often tactical openness in speech, or 'guilelessness,' which suggests a naive incapacity for deceit, sincerity is the conscious, arduous alignment of inner feeling with outward expression. It is the steady, unforced meeting of eyes when giving a difficult compliment, the plain, unvarnished gift offered for no occasion, and the quiet consistency of a promise kept without fanfare—a deliberate victory of the true self over the convenient persona.
Etymology
From Middle English sinceritie, from Old French sincerité and Medieval Latin sincēritās; both from Latin sincēritās, from sincērus + -tās. Equivalent to sincere + -ity.
noun
- The quality or state of being sincere.e.g.“I protest, in the sincerity of love.” — c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iagg
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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