fatherliness
- n the benignity and protectiveness of or befitting a father
the gentleness and fatherliness of the strange old man eased her fears
- Only Oona survived O'Neill's catastrophic fatherliness, which seemed to consist of a month of misleading warmth and charm followed by years of neglect, or hostility.
- If the idyllic life he envisions for his tenants has more than a bearable streak of treacle, it is hard to cavil at the squire's well-meant fatherliness.