[f. as prec. + -NESS.] The quality or fact of being facetious. † a. Polish and pleasantness of manner, urbanity (obs.). † b. Cheerful good-humor; also, wittiness, wit (obs.). c. Jocularity, jocosity.
1630. R. Johnson, Relations of the Most Famous Kingdoms, etc., 267. The Italians in facetiousnesse doe jest; That these [etc.].
1644. J. Bulwer, Chirologia, 135. The facetiousnesse of manners and elegancie of learning.
1657. Hobbes, Στιγμαι … of John Wallis, Wks. 1845, VII. 386. I observe, first, the facetiousness of your title-page, ‘Due correction for Mr. Hobbes, or School Discipline, for not saying his Lessons right.’
1757. Burke, An Abridgment of English History, III. ii. Relaxing with a wise facetiousness, he [William I.] knew how to relieve his mind and preserve his dignity.
1836. Hor. Smith, The Tin Trumpet (1876), 362. This is a random facetiousness, if it deserve that term, which is equally despicable for its falsehood and its facility.
1852. F. W. Robertson, Two Lectures on the Influence of Poetry on the Working Classes, i. (1858), 139. With dull facetiousness.
