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Something worthy of praise. [Obs.] Integrity, fidelity, and other gracious plausibilities. E. Vaughan.

Fully assured; confident; certain; sometimes, overconfident; dogmatic; overbearing; -- said of persons. Some positive, persisting fops we know, That, if once wrong, will needs be always. Pope.

The quality or state of being positive; reality; actualness; certainty; confidence; peremptoriness; dogmatism. See Positive, a. Positiveness, pedantry, and ill manners. Swift. The positiveness of sins of commission lies both in the habitude of the will and in the executed act too; the positiveness of sins of omission i…

Made confident by drink. [Obs.]

Made confident by drink. [Obs.]

Tending to invite favor; attracting confidence, favor, esteem, or love; attractive; as, a prepossessing manner. -- Pre`pos*sess"ing*ly, adv.

Delusion; illusion; trick. [Obs.] The sophisms of infidelity, and the prestiges of imposture. Bp. Warburton.

nture beyond license; to take liberties; -- often with on or upon before the ground of confidence. Do not presume too much upon my love. Shak. This man presumes upon his parts. Locke.

Confidently; arrogantly.

bounds; an overstepping of the bounds of reverence, respect, or courtesy; forward, overconfident, or arrogant opinion or conduct; presumptuousness; arrogance; effrontery. Thy son I killed for his presumption. Shak. I had the presumption to dedicate to you a very unfinished piece. Dryden. Conclusive presumption. See und…

Full of presumption; presuming; overconfident or venturesome; audacious; rash; taking liberties unduly; arrogant; insolent; as, a presumptuous commander; presumptuous conduct. A class of presumptuous men, whom age has not made cautious, nor adversity wise. Buckminster.

h the house was excluded by law. It is the shallow, unimproved intellects that are the confident pretenders to certainty. Glanvill.

f- gratulation; the occasion or ground of self-esteem, or of arrogant and presumptuous confidence, as beauty, ornament, noble character, children, etc. Lofty trees yclad with summer's pride. Spenser. I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. Zech. ix. 6. A bold peasantry, their country's pride. Goldsmith.…

A private friend; a confidential friend; a confidant. [Obs.] Fuller.

arty making it to indictment for libel, -- such as those made by persons communicating confidentially with a government, persons consulted confidentially as to the character of servants, etc. -- Privileged debts (Law), those to which a preference in payment is given out of the estate of a deceased person, or out of th…

Privacy; secrecy; confidence. Chaucer. I will unto you, in privity, discover . . . my purpose. Spenser.

Treacherous; perfidious; traitorous. [Obs.] Daniel.

se one's self. (a) To resolve; to determine; to vow. (b) To be assured; to have strong confidence. I dare promise myself you will attest the truth of all I have advanced. Rambler.

To make declaration; to utter on opinion; to speak with confidence. [R.] Dr. H. More.

Uttering confidently; dogmatical. [Obs.] Bacon.