coltishness
English
Noun
coltishness (uncountable)
- The quality of resembling a colt, especially:
- The quality of being lively, playful and undisciplined.
- Synonyms: abandon, exuberance, friskiness, spirit, spiritedness
- 1839, George Greenwood, Hints on Horsemanship, to a Nephew and Niece; or, Common Sense and Common Errors in Common Riding, London: Edward Moxon, p. 94,
- The grand thing is to get rid of dogged sulks and coltishness—of that wayward, swerving, hesitating gait, which says, “Here’s my foot, and there’s my foot,” or “There is a lion in the street, I cannot go forth!”
- 1915, Ethel M. Dell, The Keeper of the Door, New York: A. L. Burt, Chapter 12, p. 396,
- “He hasn’t learned the art of taking it gracefully,” said the Major. “But he shouldn’t show temper. It’s a sign of coltishness that I don’t care for.”
- “Ah, well, he’s young,” said Daisy, with a sigh. “He’ll get over that.”
- 1927, Sinclair Lewis, Elmer Gantry, London: Jonathan Cape, 1930, Chapter 12, p. 209,
- But the day of halcyon October sun was too serene even for his coltishness and sedately they tramped up the hill, swinging their joined hands;
- 1973, Nelson Algren, “Hand in Hand Through the Greenery” in The Last Carousel, New York: Seven Stories Press, p. 76,
- The younger literary generation has come on the run because it’s cold out there. The sobriety, and lack of coltishness, constitute their qualifications for reporting fashions or sports; or teaching “Creative Writing” on another campus. They bespeak a readiness to be cowed in return for a stall in the Establishment barn; at whatever cost in originality.
- The quality of being tall, thin and awkward (usually of a young person).
- Synonym: gangliness
- 1916, Sheila Kaye-Smith, Sussex Gorse, London: Cassell, 1922, Prologue, p. 19,
- Though only a year younger than Reuben, in the midst of the awkward age, his growing limbs quite lacked the coltishness of his brother’s.
- 1952, Agatha Christie (as Mary Westmacott), A Daughter’s a Daughter, New York: Dell, 1976, Book 2, Chapter 1, p. 111,
- Laura Whitstable was struck by her beauty. The awkward touch of coltishness had gone, she was now a remarkably attractive young woman, with a quite unusual loveliness of face and form.
- 1982, Liza Cody, Bad Company, New York: Scribner, Chapter 3, p. 21,
- The hair was young, but the style was mature, and there was no hint of immaturity in the body. Claire, though small, was in perfect proportion without a trace of either coltishness or puppy-fat.
- The quality of being lively, playful and undisciplined.
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