Old-maidism

The great cauſe which contributes to OLD MAIDISM is the natural vanity inherent in our ſex ; and which makes us believe, that at any time we may inſure to ourſelves what we hold indiſpenſably our duty for a while to reject.

I might not be ſuppoſed ſo far advanced in old-maidiſm; to have my whole deſign imputed to a ſeverity which ſometimes prevails amongſt that unfortunate claſs of females.

An Old Maid is a being rich in all the rarer attributes of her sex,—a fact which has been concealed and hidden from the carping world, solely by its course and selfish opinion as to Old Maidism.

The Miss Linnets were in that temperate zone of old-maidism, when a woman will not say but that if a man of suitable years and character were to offer himself, she might be induced to tread the remainder of life's vale in company with him;

Rose Tyler, Belinda’s niece, who was short and pretty, had achieved all the old-maidism she boasted, which was, as one might imagine, no ereat amount, having seen only twenty-three years.