Meanings
plural archnesses
- countableuncountableThe state of being arch.
Marianne was surprised and confused, yet she could not help smiling at the quiet archness of his manner
1811, Jane Austen, chapter 18, in Sense and Sensibility2 more examples
Meanwhile the farce was going on very successfully, and Mrs. Leary, in a hussar jacket and braided pantaloons, was enchanting the audience with her archness, her lovely figure, and her delightful ballads.
1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 29, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLCThere was something artless in Toby's delivery; he was working in the family tradition of teasing, but he was too relenting and couldn't yet match Gerald's heavy archness.
2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 3, in The Line of Beauty […], London: Picador, →ISBN
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂er-der.?
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂ergʰ-der.?
- Ancient Greekἄρχω (árkhō)
- Ancient Greekἀρχι- (arkhi-)
- Latinarchi-
- Old Englisharċe-
- Middle Englisharch-
- Englisharch-
- Englisharch
- Englisharchness
From arch (“principal; primary; mischievous”, adjective) + -ness.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
archness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/archness
“archness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/archness. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “archness,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/archness.
Source: archness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.