spruceness

Leith had made sure he was as spick and span as the others at the interviews and induction course and had maintained a high level of spruceness throughout six months of training and the subsequent eighteen months of probation.

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There was a change also, David did not very well know of what nature, about the exterior of this landed proprietor — an improvement in the shape of his garments, a spruceness in the air with which they were put on, that were both novelties.

The Heart of Mid-Lothian 2007

A spruceness of dress is also very proper and becoming at your age; as the negligence of it implies an indifference about pleasing, which does not become a young fellow.

Letters to his son on The Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman 2005

By dress, I mean your clothes being well made, fitting you, in the fashion and not above it; your hair well done, and a general cleanliness and spruceness in your person.

Letters to his son on The Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman 2005

Johnson arrayed with unusual care in a new suit of clothes, a new hat, and a well-powdered wig; and could not but notice his uncommon spruceness.

The Life of Oliver Goldsmith 2004

His bed at the three feathers was hard, the pillow lumpy, the ale insipid, the food ill-prepared, the service less than prompt, the taproom noisy, and the whole place lacking something in spruceness even though it was passably clean.

Slightly Married Balogh, Mary 2003

He had arrived at Lucinda, had charmed “Little Jinny” with his manly presence and spruceness and the amount of his personal property, supplemented by the display and free bestowal of

The Confessions of a Beachcomber 2003

The modest spruceness, the sedateness and tidiness of his earlier years, was replaced by a careless swagger and slovenliness quite insufferable; he rolled from side to side as he walked, lolled in easy-chairs, put his elbows on the table, stretched and yawned, and behaved rudely to his aunt and the servants.

A Sportsman's Sketches 2003

Cleanliness and spruceness are the rule among the Quincy Market men and stall-keepers.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 17, No. 101, March, 1866 Various

A gray flannel shirt, dark trousers, carpet slippers, an old dressing-gown … This morning the shipowner had none of his usual spruceness.

Death of a Harbormaster Simenon, Georges 1942