retreatingness

English

Etymology

retreating +‎ -ness

Noun

retreatingness (uncountable)

1. The quality of retreating.
   • 1897, The Windsor Magazine, volume 5, page 277:

     The boldness of these bow-windows and the retreatingness of the roof give the house an appearance which would enable the thousands of Dickens' readers all over the world, who only know it from books, to recognise it at a glance […]

   • 1903, Benjamin Gregory, John Gregory, Autobiographical Recollections, page 293:

     On account of his great stature, his extreme slimness, his shyness and retiringness — one might say retreatingness — his ruminant habits, his mildness and his gentleness, and the abnormal length of his neck, I used to call him the giraffe.

   • 1960, Nevill Coghill, The Poet Chaucer, page 74:

     But with all this retreatingness, she is inwardly drawn by his handsome mien; to see him ride by is a love-potion to her […]