Mannerism

Quick meaning: Mannerism is a noun meaning A noticeable personal habit, a verbal or other (often, but not necessarily unconscious) habitual behavior peculiar to an individual.

Meaning

A noticeable personal habit, a verbal or other (often, but not necessarily unconscious) habitual behavior peculiar to an individual.

More Meanings

1. Exaggerated or affected style in art, speech, or other behavior.
2. (art, literature) In fine art, a style that is inspired by previous models, aiming to reproduce subjects in an expressive language.
3. (art, literature) In literature, an ostentatious and unnatural style of the second half of the sixteenth century. In the contemporary criticism, described as a negation of the classicist equilibrium, pre-Baroque, and deforming expressiveness.

Example Sentences

artists […] dabblingly pursuing a kind of formalist mannerism merely in the interest of careerism

The Inspector looked round. He knew well enough that they were alone in the study at The Turrets, but the action had become something of a mannerism with him.

He generally spoke without academic mannerism, though on occasion he dipped into the over-wrought thickets of eduspeak to find words like “antithetical” or “foci” or “interface.”

In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned. But he had then none of the oddities and mannerisms which I hold to be inseparable from genius, and which struck my attention in after days when I came in contact with the Celebrity.

Word Forms

• mannerisms

Synonyms for mannerism

Depending on context, synonyms include idiosyncrasy, quirk, pose, foible, affectation.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include affectation, idiosyncrasy, foible, pose, trait, tic.

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