ladiness

English

Alternative forms

• ladyness

Etymology

From lady +‎ -ness.

Noun

ladiness (uncountable)

1. The quality of being a lady.
   • 1966, John Gould, Last One In: Tales of a New England Boyhood, a Gently Pleasing Dip into a Cool, Soothing Pool of the Not-So-Long-Ago, So to Speak, page 153:

     Mother believed round garters cut off the circulation and caused varicose veins, so she kept me in a pantywaist several years longer than most boys. Nobody knew this except me and Mother, and I was particularly careful to keep it a secret because there was a touch of ladiness to a waist after a boy got about so big.

   • 1990, Claudia Bepko, Jo Ann Krestan, Too Good for Her Own Good: Breaking Free from the Burden of Female Responsibility, page 18:

     “Ladiness” is grounded in a rather rigid code of behavior that varies only slightly according to ethnic or cultural values.

   • 1997, Albemarle:

     Two, Mother and aunt Wheezie were equally as passionate that I should become a lady. Becoming a lady was such hard work I hated it. I couldn’t fathom why any girl would want to be one. Furthermore, I clearly understood at the ripe old age of eight that Mother and Wheezie often strayed from the path of ladiness.