Brewer's: Cussedness

Ungainliness; perversity, an evil temper; malice prepense. Halliwell gives cuss = surly.

“The turkey-cock is just as likely as not to trample on the young turkeys and smash them, or to split their skulls by a savage dig of his powerful beak. Whether this is `cussedness' pure and simple ... has not been satisfactorily determined” —Daily News, December 22nd, 1885.

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