Préciosité is the name of literary flow in France from the early 17th century. This movement was distinguished by sophisticated customs and a special language, often using long paraphrases to bypass any banal word. They originated in the salons, a kind of literary clubs where writers suggested their work and where literary and psychological subjects were discussed. The people involved in this flow of literature were mostly relatively emancipated women who enjoyed a fairly valuable, rich education. They were called the précieuses. The flow can be seen as a highlight of the Baroque in French literature. The préscients abstain from the rough, male culture that ruled in the royal court, first of Hendrik IV and then that of Louis XIII.
In some plays Molière mocked with the exaggerated expressions of this movement, for example in Les Précieuses Ridicules.
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