Meanings
plural loosenesses
- The quality or fact of being free from rigidity, attachment or restraint; not tight, not firmly attached or taut.
See if that nut has too much looseness and tighten it if it does.
- A relaxed state regarding principles or accuracy.
- Moral laxity; licentiousness.
Yet goodly court he made still to his Dame, / Pourd out in loosnesse on the grassy grownd [...].
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
nounfrequent and watery bowel movements; can be a symptom of infection or food poisoning or colitis or a gastrointestinal tumor
nounthe quality of movability by virtue of being free from attachment or other restraints
noundissolute indulgence in sensual pleasure
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*lewh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*lewHs-
- Proto-Germanic*leusaną
- Proto-Germanic*lausaz
- Old Norselauss
- Middle Englishloos
- Englishloose
- Englishlooseness
Translations
Estonian kobedus
- kobedusThe property of being loose
Finnish löysyys, löyhyys
- löysyysThe property of being loose
- löyhyysThe property of being loose
Hindi शिथिलता
- शिथिलता (śithiltā)The property of being loose
Irish liobairne
- liobairneThe property of being loose
Turkish gevşeklik
- gevşeklikThe property of being loose
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
looseness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/looseness
“looseness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/looseness. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “looseness,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/looseness.
Source: looseness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.