stiltedness
Unnatural rigid manner
Stiltedness is the quality of being stiff, formal, or unnatural in manner or expression.
The word often describes writing or speech that feels labored and awkward rather than flowing: The stiltedness of the dialogue made the characters seem wooden.
It suggests excessive formality where ease would be more appropriate.
Not easily bent
- laboredRequiring great exertion
- strainedUnder uncomfortable tension
- mechanicalOperated by machinery
- unnaturalContrary to normal order
disjointed · wooden · monotonous · lifeless · flat · expressionless · toneless · leaden
Lacking physical coordination
- inelegantLacking grace or refinement
- ungainlyLacking ease of movement
- woodenMade from timber
- roboticStiff and unemotional
jerky · halting · cumbersome · graceless · heavy-handed · lumbering · clunky · ungraceful
Deliberately manufactured, unnatural
- affectedArtificially contrived behavior
- pretentiousFalsely grand or important
- forcedMade to occur unwillingly
- phonyFraudulent person or thing
insincere · manufactured · faked · ersatz · pseudo · put-on · feigned · artificial
Formally observant, ritualistic
- starchedMade stiff with sizing
- austereSeverely simple and unadorned
- punctiliousExcessively careful about details
- decorousSocially appropriate, dignified
rigid · constrained · stuffy · prim · buttoned-up · proper · starchy · priggish
stiff
Not easily bent
- laboredRequiring great exertion
- strainedUnder uncomfortable tension
- mechanicalOperated by machinery
unnatural · disjointed · wooden · monotonous · lifeless · flat · expressionless · toneless · leaden · uninflected
clumsy
Lacking physical coordination
robotic · jerky · halting · cumbersome · graceless · heavy-handed · lumbering · clunky · ungraceful · maladroit
contrived
Deliberately manufactured, unnatural
- affectedArtificially contrived behavior
- pretentiousFalsely grand or important
- forcedMade to occur unwillingly
phony · insincere · manufactured · faked · ersatz · pseudo · put-on · feigned · artificial · studied
ceremonious
Formally observant, ritualistic
- starchedMade stiff with sizing
- austereSeverely simple and unadorned
- punctiliousExcessively careful about details
decorous · rigid · constrained · stuffy · prim · buttoned-up · proper · starchy · priggish · mannered
stiltednessnaturalness
Unaffected, uncontrived quality
fluency · ease · spontaneity · fluidity · smoothness