-ness

UK/nəs/UK, dated/nɪs/dialectal, obsolete/nɛs/New Zealand[nɘs]

suffix

Appended in general, often informally, stylistically, or jocularly, for reification of an attribute.

“one + -ness → oneness”

Similar
-ability-dom-hood-ibility-icity-ism-itude-ity
OriginMiddle English -nes ← Old English -nis ← Proto-West Germanic *-nassī →
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Meanings

suffix-ness (noun-forming suffix, countable and uncountable, plural -nesses)

plural -nesses · alternative obsolete -nesse · alternative ⠰⠎

  1. countableuncountableAppended in general, often informally, stylistically, or jocularly, for reification of an attribute.

    1865 Lewis Carrol: Alice in Wonderland; CHAPTER VII: A Mad Tea-Party. You know you say things are "much of a muchness.." — did you ever see such a thing as a drawing of a muchness!

    2 more examples

    The adrenocortical carcinoma symptoms ... are moonface, abdominousness, high blood pressure, hirsutes, pink striae, plethora, decaleification, irrespective of sex...

    1942 Mount Sinai Hospital (New York, N.Y.) Journal of the Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, Volume 8, Part 2 p.515

    The Czech people and countryside of Mr Lukas' camera are universal. In the aged peasants there is none of that wrinkled, ham, old gafferishness to which we have become accustomed by clever photography, but there is the feel of the earth by which these people have lived...

    1948 Helen A. Archdale, Margaret Haig Thomas Mackworth: Time & Tide - Volume 29 - Page 407
  2. countableuncountableAppended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being (the adjective)", "the quality of being (the adjective)", or "the measure of being (the adjective)".

    one + -ness → oneness

    3 more examples

    calm + -ness → calmness

    eerie + -ness → eeriness

    kind + -ness → kindness

    Synonyms: -ability, -dom, -hood, -ibility, -icity, -ism, -itude, -ity

  3. countableuncountableAppended to words of other parts of speech to form nouns (often nonce words or terms in philosophy) meaning the state/quality/measure of the idea represented by these words.

    that + -ness → thatness

    2 more examples

    tree + -ness → treeness

    thug + -ness → thugness

Synonyms & antonyms

suffixAppended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being (the adjective)", "the quality of being (the adjective)", or "the measure of being (the adjective)".

Similar
-ability-dom-hood-ibility-icity-ism-itude-ity-osity-ship-th
Also see
-cy-hood-mans-osity-ship-th

Origin

  1. Proto-Germanic*-inassuz
  2. Proto-West Germanic*-nassī
  3. Old English-nis
  4. Middle English-nes
  5. English-ness

From Middle English -nes, -nesse, from Old English -nis, -nes, from Proto-West Germanic *-nassī, from Proto-Germanic *-inassuz. This suffix was formed already in Proto-Germanic by false division of the final consonant *-n- of the preceding stem + the actual suffix *-assuz. The latter was in turn derived from an earlier *-at(s)-tuz, from the verbal suffix *-at-janą + the noun suffix *-þuz. Compare German -nis and Dutch -nis of the same origin.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic ـِيَّة
  • ـِيَّة (-iyya)appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Chinese Mandarin -性
  • -性 (xìng)appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Czech -ost
  • -ostappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Danish -hed, -skab
  • -hedappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -skabappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Dutch -heid, -schap
  • -heidappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -schapappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -nisappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Esperanto -eco
  • -ecoappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Finnish -uus, -yys
  • -uusappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -yysappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -usappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -ysappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
French -ité, -esse
  • -itéappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -esseappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
German -nis, -heit
  • -nisappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -heitappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -keitappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Greek -ότητα
  • -ότητα (-ótita)appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Hebrew ־וּת
  • ־וּת (-út)appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Hindi -ई
  • -ई (-ī)appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Hungarian -ság, -ség
  • -ságappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -ségappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Icelandic -ð, -d
  • -ðappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -dappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -tappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Indonesian ke- -an
  • ke- -anappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Irish -acht
  • -achtappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Italian -ità, -ezza
  • -itàappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -ezzaappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Japanese -さ, -性
  • -さ (-sa)appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -性 (-sei)appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Korean ㅁ
  • ㅁappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Latin -tās
  • -tāsappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Malay ke- -an
  • ke- -anappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Norwegian -skap
  • -skapappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Norwegian Bokmål -het
  • -hetappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Polish -ość, -stwo
  • -ośćappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -stwoappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Portuguese -idade, -eza
  • -idadeappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -ezaappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -ezappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -idãoappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Romanian -itate, -tate
  • -itateappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -tateappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -ătateappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Russian -ность, -ость
  • -ность (-nostʹ)appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -ость (-ostʹ)appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -ство (-stvo)appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -щи́на (-ščína)appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Slovak -osť
  • -osťappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Spanish -idad
  • -idadappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Swahili u-
  • u-appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Swedish -het, -skap
  • -hetappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -skapappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Tagalog ka- -an
  • ka- -anappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Tamil -மை
  • -மை (-mai)appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Thai ความ, ภาพ
  • ความ (kwaam)appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • ภาพ (pâap)appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Turkish -lık, -lik
  • -lıkappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -likappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -lukappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -lükappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Ukrainian -ість, -ство
  • -ість (-istʹ)appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • -ство (-stvo)appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Vietnamese sự, nỗi
  • sựappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • nỗiappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • niềmappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Welsh -rwydd
  • -rwyddappended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Yiddish ־ניש, ־קייט
  • ־ניש (-nish)appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • ־קייט (-keyt)appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
  • ־הייט (-heyt)appended to adjectives to form nouns meaning "the state of being...", "the quality of being...", or "the measure of being..."
Cite this entry
APA

-ness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-ness

MLA

“-ness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-ness. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-ness,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-ness.

Source: -ness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.