-acity

(Latin: suffix; quality of)

A suffix that forms nouns of quality or state. There are hundreds of other -acity suffixes; however, the following will present significant examples.

audacity (s) (noun), audacities (pl)
1. The willingness to take courageous risks: The audacity of the fireman saved the life of the little girl when the apartment building was on fire.
2. Boldness which may be combined with disregard for the consequences; rashness, recklessness: Skydiving takes both audacity and skill.
3. Open disregard for proper behavior or morality; impudence: The woman had the audacity to walk out during the sermon in church.
4. Aggressive rudeness or unmitigated effrontery: Shirley had the audacity to challenge her father's decision that she should not stay out late.
Impudence or showing a lack of respect for another person.
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Additional examples of audacity in action:

A mother challenges her boy's honesty.
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I asked you to tell me where you've been all afternoon! Don't tell me again that you were over at Jimmy's because I called and he said you weren't there. Now, tell me the truth!

The boy responds with an audacious statement.
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Mother, do you have the audacity to doubt my veracity and to insinuate that I prevaricate when I am as pure and undefiled as the icicles that hang from a church steeple?

bellacity (s) (noun), bellacities (pl)
A tendency to war; warlikeness: Sydney was a pretty aggressive and hostile fellow, and his bellacity was not admired by his colleagues.
bibacity (s) (noun), bibacities (pl)
The practice or habit of drinking too much; tippling: Sam and his friends always got together at the local bar on Saturday nights where they were known for their love of beer and their bibacity.
capacity (kuh PAS uh tee) (s) (noun), capacities (pl)
1. Amount of room or space inside; largest amount that can be held by a container: A gallon can has a capacity of four quarts.
2. The ability to receive, hold, or absorb the maximum amount that can be contained or produced: The capacity of the theater was 1500 seats and it was usually filled to capacity.
3. The capability to learn or to do; power or fitness: Sabina has a great capacity for learning.
4. The ability to withstand some force or to perform some function: Metal is known for its capacity to retain heat.
5. Maximum output: During the war, steel factories worked at full capacity.
6. A position or relation; legal power or qualification: A person may act in the capacity of a guardian, trustee, voter, friend, etc.
7. Etymology: from Latin capacitatem, capacitas, "breadth, spacious"; from capax, "able to hold much"; from capere "to take".
carnivoracity (s) (noun) (no pl)
A humorous term for an animal or a person that has a greediness of appetite for flesh (meat): Tommy always had an insatiable hunger for steaks and hamburgers for lunch and his mother thought this carnivoracity quite unusual.
contumacity (s) (noun), contumacities (pl)
Stubborn and disrespectful resistance to an authority of any kind: Some teenagers at school are very disobedient and show too much contumacity towards their teachers or even towards the principal of the school.
efficacity (s) (noun), efficacities (pl)
The potential to produce an intended effect or result under perfect conditions; efficacy; effectiveness : The firm decided to have the marketing methods examined to make sure of their efficacity and correct or improve the methods if necessary.
inaudacity (s) (noun), inaudacities (pl)
A deficiency of making proper decisions or not doing the right thing: The inaudacity of the father who ran out of the burning building before taking his little son out with him could have resulted in the child's death, however the bravery of the woman in the apartment across the hall saved his life because she heard him crying and took him out to safety.
incapacity (s) (noun), incapacities (pl)
A lack of physical or metal competence to do something or to carry out one's affairs: inability: Because of the incapacity of Joan's grandmother to go shopping independently, Joan went with her every week to buy groceries, go to the post office, and to do other necessary errands in town.
inefficacity (s) (noun), inefficacities (pl)
The deficiency in producing a intended effect; inefficacy; ineffectiveness: Because James didn't do his homework and didn't pay much attention during the lessons in school, a condition of inefficacity arose and James flunked and had to repeat the school year.
insagacity (s) (noun), insagacities (pl)
The lack of sageness or wisdom; inability to make good decisions: Insagacity was evidently part of Jack's way of life and so he lost a lot of money by making bad investments.
inveracity (s) (noun), inveracities (pl)
1. The practice or habit of lying: Somehow Tom always got away with inveracity and truthlessness and never got punished for the things he actually did.
2. An untrue statement or declaration; falsehood: The inveracity of saying that he didn't throw a rock through the car window, although he did, was so audacious and impudent that his parents had him stay in his room the rest of the day.
linguacity (s) (noun), linguacities (pl)
Loquacity; the state of being very talkative: Little Ivy was just beginning to communicate with understandable words and babbled along the whole day, and her linguacity was enjoyed very much by her parents!
loquacity (s) (noun), loquacities (pl)
The condition or quality of being loquacious; talkativeness: Because of Lynn's loquacity, there was never a dull moment at the dinner party.
mendacity (s) (noun), mendacities (pl)
1. Dishonesty and untruthfulness: There is so much mendacity in politics that people don't know what to believe anymore.
2. Habitual lying or deceiving: Sometimes people are victims of mendacities committed by investment claims of some companies, and even a few banks, to such an extent that they have to find lawyers to defend their losses!
3. Etymology: from Late Latin mendacitas, "falsehood".
Falsehood, untruthfulness, lying.
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Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
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