cussedness
nounEtymology From cussed + -ness.
1
Dated, Usually The state or quality of being cussed.
- Well, if ever a man was born bad in his temper, 'twas Captain Bligh. . . . They made an Admiral of him in the end, but they never cured his cussedness.c. 1905, Arthur Quiller-Couch, Frenchman's Creek:
- Full of vinegar and all-round cussedness, but without malice. Just as soon kill you as not, but in a playful sort of way, you understand, without meaning to at all.1910, Jack London, chapter 11, in Burning Daylight:
1 more example
- He made camp there that night, pitching his little tent in the trail for pure cussedness, and defying aloud a traveling world to make him move until he got good and ready.1922, B. M. Bower, chapter 2, in The Trail of the White Mule:
- Synonyms
- cantankerousness, nastiness, obstinacy, orneriness, perversity