Meanings
plural appositenesses
- uncountableusuallythe state of being apposite
For two years more he lingered, sinking slowly into unconsciousness and imbecility. Sometimes, propped up in his chair, he would be heard to murmur, with unexpected appositeness, the words of Samson [...]
1921, Lytton Strachey, Queen Victoria2 more examples
There is a want of appositeness and accuracy in the first sentence of this extract, which renders it somewhat difficult to determine whether the author designed it as a single proposition, or as a series of independent propositions.
1840, Abel Upshur, A Brief Enquiry into the Nature and Character of our Federal Government, Campbell, page 62And though in this instance the king [Louis XVI of France] promised to the extent that he feared, and broke his promises to the extent that he hoped, one cannot but marvel at the precise appositeness of La Rochefoucauld’s aphorism […] [that] promises were made 'to the extent that (men) hoped and kept to the extent that they feared' […]
1963, Hannah Arendt, On Revolution
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
German Angemessenheit
- Angemessenheitthe state of being apposite
Russian уме́стность
- уме́стность (uméstnostʹ)the state of being apposite
Cite this entry
appositeness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/appositeness
“appositeness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/appositeness. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “appositeness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/appositeness.
Source: appositeness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.