unctuousness

The state or characteristic of being unctuous.

Noun

  1. The state or characteristic of being unctuous.
    • Plum-pudding is the term bestowed upon certain fragmentary parts of the whale's flesh, here and there adhering to the blanket of blubber, and often participating to a considerable degree in its unctuousness. - 1851,...
    • Only Mr. Radbolt's unctuousness—surely it would have smoothed the stormiest waves—saved the social situation. - 1919, Anthony Hope, chapter 17, in The Secret of the Tower:

    Synonyms: unctuosity

Origin

Etymology tree English unctuous Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English unctuousness From unctuous + -ness.