ACCISMUS denotes a feigned refusal of something which a person earnestly desires. The word is Latin; or rather Greek, ακισμιας; supposed to be formed from Acco, the name of a foolish old woman noted in antiquity for an affectation of this kind.
Accismus is sometimes considered as a virtue; sometimes as a vice, which Augustus and Tiberius practised with great success. Cromwell's refusal of the crown of England may be brought as an instance of an accismus.