theatricality

Etymology

From theatrical + -ity.

theatricality means theatrical behaviour and mannerisms. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 81 out of 100.

Why “theatricality” is a great word

THEATRICALITY — [Noun] The quality or character of being exaggerated, artificial, or histrionic in behavior or expression. From theatrical (pertaining to the theater or dramatic performance) + the noun-forming suffix -ity (denoting a state or condition). Unlike "theatrics" (which are the calculated, specific techniques of performance) or "sincerity" (which demands an unmediated correspondence between feeling and display), theatricality is the inherent condition of a life lived as spectacle. It is the flamboyant gesture held a beat too long, the precisely timed sigh in a domestic argument, and the wardrobe chosen not for comfort but for the character one intends to play for the day—a conscious framing of the mundane where the only true intimacy is found in the distance of a role.

noun

Theatrical behaviour and mannerisms.“The contradictoriness and multifacetedness of identity is a constant theme in a play which deals so centrally with ideas of plays, illusion, rôle-playing and theatricality.”