sappiness
(ˈsæpɪnɪs)
[f. sappy a. + -ness.]
1. The condition of being full of sap.
| 1552 Huloet, Sapines or naturall humour or moysture, vligo. 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. iii. 33 For want of moysture and sappinesse. 1610 W. Folkingham Art of Survey i. iii. 6 They prosper and thriue in burgening, sappines, flowers, fruit. 1727 Bailey vol. II, Sappiness, the having Sap. 1731 Ibid. (ed. 5), Sappiness, the being sappy. 1812 J. Smyth Pract. of Customs (1821) 282 According to the size or sappiness of the tree. 1891 T. Hardy Tess xxvii, That green trough of sappiness and humidity, the valley of the River Var. |
2. colloq. The quality of being sappy or foolish.
| a 1909 In recent Dicts. 1943 New Yorker 20 Feb. 22/1 She was..convinced..that a floppy feminine hat was a symbol of celluloid sappiness. |