raciness
(ˈreɪsɪnɪs)
[f. racy a. + -ness.]
The fact or condition of being racy: a. Of wine, fruit, etc.
| 1682 Art & Myst. Vintners (1703) 51 Nutmegs and Cloves..give a kind of Raciness. 1823 Lamb Lett., to B. Barton xiii. 122 My jargonels..were of exquisite raciness. 1829 De Quincey in ‘H. A. Page’ Life (1877) I. xii. 265 New potatoes of celestial earthiness and raciness. |
b. Of speech, writing, manner, etc.
| 1778 Johnson L.P., Milton I. 247 His images and descriptions..do not seem..to have the freshness, raciness, and energy of immediate observation. 1798 W. Taylor in Monthly Rev. XXVI. 545–6 That raciness, that taste of the soil, which can alone endear any laws to a free people. 1834 De Quincey in Tait's Mag. I. 200/2 An apparent strength of character..and a raciness of manner. 1884 W. J. Courthope Addison ix. 188 Using the language with a raciness and rhythm probably unequalled in our literature. |