[f. next + -NESS.] The state or condition of being flabby, flaccidity.
1727. Bailey, vol. II., Flabbiness, limberness with Moisture, Staleness, &c.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), II. 197. The fat, and the flabbiness of that, seems to give an appearance of softness, which the flesh itself is very far from having.
1834. Brit. Husb., I. 140. They [potatoes] are thought to occasion a certain want of spirit and flabbiness of flesh, which probably arises from the use of boiled food.
1856. G. Meredith, Shav. Shagpat, 370. The lion came trundling along in utter flabbiness, raising not his head.
b. In immaterial things: Want of vigour, feebleness, laxness, slackness.
1883. Solicitor’s Jrnl., 24 Nov., 63/1. The practice of the courts in treating the construction of wills has for a long time tended to establish a general vagueness and flabbiness, which greatly promote doubt and litigation.
1889. H. F. Wood, Englishman of Rue Caïn, i. May imply instinctive truthfulness on her own part, or merely inexperience, or weakness of character, or flabbiness of intellect.
