Definition
Soubrette is a term referring to a type of female role—specifically, a stock character—in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means “conceited” or “coy”
DFW's Sentence "This sort of coy self-reflexive metaverbal text thing just depresses the shit out of me," exeleutherostomizes an incidental character - maybe a bagboy at the PriceChopper or some kind of high-class chef at Marjorie's Mansion or something - who appears now w/o any more reason or reality than the soubrettish cashier or the logophilic protagonist of the earlier sections of the serial exhibition, the nameless guy whose lexical sex scene in (2) is just an excuse for a lo of metalexical riffs and intertextual allusions and whose recursive errand-list in (3) is just an excuse for some arch wordplay and pinchbeck paradox.
My Sentence Well in mixed company I'd try using the word soubrettish, but shouting fucking conceited cock tease gets to the point quicker with the added benefit of clearing a path to the open bar.
01: DFW Source: The Flexicon (p.183)
02: Definition Source: Wikipedia