  This paper characterizes lexicographic preferences over alternatives that are
identified by a finite number of attributes. Our characterization is based on
two key concepts: a weaker notion of continuity called 'mild continuity'
(strict preference order between any two alternatives that are different with
respect to every attribute is preserved around their small neighborhoods) and
an 'unhappy set' (any alternative outside such a set is preferred to all
alternatives inside). Three key aspects of our characterization are: (i) use of
continuity arguments, (ii) the stepwise approach of looking at two attributes
at a time and (iii) in contrast with the previous literature, we do not impose
noncompensation on the preference and consider an alternative weaker condition.
