mannerisms

Noun (1)

mannerism (countable and uncountable, plural mannerisms)

1. A noticeable personal habit, a verbal or other (often, but not necessarily unconscious) habitual behavior peculiar to an individual.
   • The Inspector looked round. He knew well enough that they were alone in the study at The Turrets, but the action had become something of a mannerism with him.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC
2. Exaggerated or affected style in art, speech, or other behavior.
   • artists […] dabblingly pursuing a kind of formalist mannerism merely in the interest of careerism1984, Rasheed Araeen, Guy Brett, Making myself visible

Noun (2)

mannerism (countable and uncountable, plural mannerisms)

1. In literature, an ostentatious and unnatural style of the second half of the sixteenth century. In the contemporary criticism, described as a negation of the classicist equilibrium, pre-Baroque, and deforming expressiveness.
2. In fine art, a style that is inspired by previous models, aiming to reproduce subjects in an expressive language.

See all 5 meanings of mannerism