preparedness

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UK/pɹɪˈpɛə(ɹɪ)dnɪs/US/pɹɪˈpɛɹ(ə)dnəs/

noun

The state of being prepared.

“preparedness for battle”

Meanings

nounpreparedness (usually uncountable, plural preparednesses)

plural preparednesses

  1. uncountableusuallyThe state of being prepared.

    preparedness for battle

    2 more examples

    preparedness for an exam

    On her preparedness to return to Labour's front bench under new Leader of the Opposition Sir Keir Starmer, she is non-committal.

    2020 June 3, Lilian Greenwood talks to Paul Stephen, “Rail's 'underlying challenges' remain”, in Rail, page 35
  2. uncountableusuallyPrecautionary measures in the face of potential disasters.

    "We won't let the downfall of any one person make us lower our guard or slacken the level of war preparedness we should maintain," he added.

    2026 January 26, Ben Blanchard, Roger Tung, quoting Wellington Koo, “Taiwan monitoring 'abnormal' China military leadership changes after top general put under investigation”, in Michael Perry, editor, Reuters, archived from the original on 26 Jan 2026
    1 more example

    The Federal Emergency Management Agency has halted the release of hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency preparedness grants, requiring states to prove their population counts before they can access the money, the agency told CNN.

    2025 October 2, Gabe Cohen, “In unusual move, FEMA halts preparedness grant money, orders states to recount their populations excluding deported migrants”, in CNN, archived from the original on 02 Oct 2025

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar

nounthe state of having been made ready or prepared for use or action (especially military action)

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Englishprepare
  2. Englishprepared
  3. Englishpreparedness

From prepared + -ness.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Basque prestatze
  • prestatzestate of being prepared
Bulgarian готовност, подготвеност
  • готовност (gotovnost)state of being prepared
  • подготвеност (podgotvenost)state of being prepared
  • готовност (gotovnost)precautionary measures in the face of potential disasters
Catalan preparació
  • preparacióstate of being prepared
Czech připravenost
  • připravenoststate of being prepared
Dutch paraatheid
  • paraatheidstate of being prepared
Finnish valmius, valmius
  • valmiusstate of being prepared
  • valmiusprecautionary measures in the face of potential disasters
Hebrew מוּכָנוּת
  • מוּכָנוּת (mukhanút)state of being prepared
Hungarian felkészültség, készültség
  • felkészültségstate of being prepared
  • készültségstate of being prepared
Indonesian kesiapsiagaan
  • kesiapsiagaanstate of being prepared
Italian prontezza
  • prontezzastate of being prepared
Portuguese preparo
  • preparostate of being prepared
Russian гото́вность, подгото́вленность
  • гото́вность (gotóvnostʹ)state of being prepared
  • подгото́вленность (podgotóvlennostʹ)state of being prepared
Spanish preparación
  • preparaciónstate of being prepared
Swedish beredskap
  • beredskapstate of being prepared
Tagalog kahandaan
  • kahandaanstate of being prepared
Cite this entry
APA

preparedness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preparedness

MLA

“preparedness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preparedness. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “preparedness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preparedness.

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