impersonalnessn.
/(ˌ)ɪmˈpəːsnlnəs/, /(ˌ)ɪmˈpəːs(ə)nl̩nəs/, U.S. /ᵻmˈpərs(ə)nəlnəs/ The quality or condition of being impersonal (esp. in sense 2a of the adjective); lack or absence of personality, individuality, or personal connection.
ΚΠ
1871 P. Brooks Let. 11 Jan. in A. V. G. Allen Phillips Brooks (1908) 247 When I see a small audience I lose the impersonalness of the thing. I think of individuals and that always puts me out.
1885 C. H. Parkhurst Pattern in Mount v. 60 He readily comes to have with us only the indefiniteness of an impulse and the impersonalness of an influence, with none of that substantive being, intelligence, and will that constitutes the Holy Spirit a true and complete personality.
1930 Jrnl. Amer. Inst. Criminal Law & Criminol. 20 512 The reporters sometimes play favorites with police officials, judges and prosecutors. The barriers of impersonalness which should exist between law enforcers and the press are thus broken.
1955 P. Heron Changing Forms Art 233 In his painting it never matters one jot when his beautiful girl has a distinctly anonymous air. Her impersonalness is part of her charm.
2006 Gold Coast Bull. (Austral.) (Nexis) 24 Nov. 89 The tower will..satisfy a demand for secure high-rise living in a building that avoids the impersonalness often associated with large residential towers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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