sameness

same·ness
S1A1M3E1N1E1S1S1
US, UK/ˈseɪmnəs/

noun

The quality of being the same; identity.

Opposite
UncommonScrabble 10

Meanings

nounsameness (plural samenesses)

plural samenesses

  1. The quality of being the same; identity.

    However strange it may sound, it always seemed to me […] that Adrian's laughter-filled friendship with Schildknapp had something to do with the sameness of their eye color

    1997, Thomas Mann, chapter XX, in John E. Woods, transl., Doctor Faustus, New York: Vintage, published 1999, page 182
    1 more example

    All of them agreed that the working-classes must be kept in their place; and all of them perceived that American Democracy did not imply any equality of wealth, but did demand a wholesome sameness of thought, dress, painting, morals, and vocabulary.

    1922, Sinclair Lewis, chapter XXXIV, in Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC, page 391
  2. A tiring lack of variety; monotony.

    […] in the time when day follows day in dull, unexpectant sameness, and trial is a dreary routine,—it is then that despair threatens […]

    1860, George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss, Book IV, Chapter II
    1 more example

    O to sail to sea in a ship! / To leave this steady unendurable land, / To leave the tiresome sameness of the streets, the sidewalks and the houses, / To leave you O you solid motionless land, and entering a ship, / To sail and sail and sail!

    1892, Walt Whitman, “A Song of Joys”, in Leaves of Grass […], Philadelphia, Pa.: David McKay, publisher, […], →OCLC, page 148

    Synonyms: acedia, boredom, monotony, tediousness, tiresomeness, tedium, wearisomeness

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe state of being equivalent; equality.

nounA tiring lack of variety; monotony.

Opposite
Narrower

More synonyms by meaning

nounthe quality of being alike

Opposite
Broader

nounthe quality of wearisome constancy, routine, and lack of variety

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Translations

Czech stejnost
  • stejnostquality of being the same
German Gleichheit, Gleichartigkeit
  • Gleichheitquality of being the same
  • Gleichartigkeitquality of being the same
  • Gleichförmigkeita tiring lack of variety
Irish ionannas
  • ionannasquality of being the same
Latin īdentitās
  • īdentitāsquality of being the same
Romanian asemănare perfectă, identitate
  • asemănare perfectăquality of being the same
  • identitatequality of being the same
  • monotoniequality of being the same
  • uniformitatequality of being the same
Spanish mismidad
  • mismidadquality of being the same
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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