Capernosity

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include Ireland, humorous, literary, uncountable

    "Besides, my grandmother, who lived at the top of the next house, was a lady of capernosity and function. She had money and lay in bed all day, drinking porter or malt, and taking pinches of snuff, and talking to the neighbours that would call up to tell her the news of the day."

  2. 2
    The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include:; capability and generosity Ireland, humorous, literary, uncountable
  3. 3
    The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include:; competence, flair Ireland, humorous, literary, uncountable
  4. 4
    The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include:; peevishness, ill temper Ireland, humorous, literary, uncountable

Example

More examples

"Besides, my grandmother, who lived at the top of the next house, was a lady of capernosity and function. She had money and lay in bed all day, drinking porter or malt, and taking pinches of snuff, and talking to the neighbours that would call up to tell her the news of the day."

Etymology

Coined by Brendan Behan, using the learned suffix -osity. Augustine Martin suggests Blend of capability + generosity. Barry Baldwin suggests a link with Scots capernoity (“befuddled”) or Latin caper (“goat”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.