viscosity

vis·cos·i·ty
V4I1S1C3O1S1I1T1Y4
US/vɪsˈkɑsɪti/UK/vɪsˈkɒsɪti/

noun

The state of being viscous.

“Near-synonym: thickness”

Less commonScrabble 17

Meanings

nounviscosity (countable and uncountable, plural viscosities)

plural viscosities

  1. uncountableThe state of being viscous.

    Near-synonym: thickness

    Synonyms: viscousness, thickness · Antonyms: runniness, wateriness, thinness

  2. countablenatural sciencesA quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid, as measured by the force per unit area resisting uniform flow.

    The microcannon was seen moving at about a micron per second, it was about 15 microns long, and the high speed photograph was done in water (density of 1 kg/L, viscosity of about 0.001 pascal seconds).

    2018 February 28, Alexander Klotz, “Microcannons firing Nanobullets”, in Softbites
    1 more example

    Aquafaba was recovered from 10 commercial canned chickpea products and correlations among aquafaba composition, density, viscosity and foaming properties were investigated. Proton NMR was used to characterize aquafaba composition before and after ultrafiltration through membranes with different molecular weight cut offs (MWCOs of 3, 10, or 50 kDa).

    2018 October 3, Youn Young Shim, Rana Mustafa, Jianheng Shen, Kornsulee Ratanapariyanuch, Martin J. T. Reaney, “Composition and Properties of Aquafaba: Water Recovered from Commercially Canned Chickpeas”, in Journal of Visualized Experiments, volume 132, →DOI, →PMID
  3. uncountablehuman sciencesA tendency to prolong interpersonal encounters.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe state of being viscous.

More synonyms by meaning

nounresistance of a liquid to shear forces (and hence to flow)

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Medieval Latinviscositas
  2. Old Frenchviscosité
  3. Middle Frenchviscosité
  4. Englishviscosity

From Middle French viscosité, from Old French viscosité, from Medieval Latin viscositas; analysable as viscous + -ity.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans viskositeit, viskositeit
  • viskositeitstate of being viscous
  • viskositeitphysics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Arabic لُزُوجَة, لُزُوجَة
  • لُزُوجَة (luzūja)state of being viscous
  • لُزُوجَة (luzūja)physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Bengali সান্দ্রতা
  • সান্দ্রতা (śandrota)physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Bulgarian вискозност, вискозитет
  • вискозност (viskoznost)state of being viscous
  • вискозитет (viskozitet)physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Catalan viscositat
  • viscositatstate of being viscous
Chinese Mandarin 粘性, 粘度
  • 粘性 (niánxìng)state of being viscous
  • 粘度 (niándù)state of being viscous
  • 粘性 (niánxìng)physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Dutch viscositeit, viscositeit
  • viscositeitstate of being viscous
  • viscositeitphysics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Finnish viskoosisuus, sitkaus
  • viskoosisuusstate of being viscous
  • sitkausstate of being viscous
  • viskositeettiphysics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • sitkausphysics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
French viscosité, viscosité
  • viscositéstate of being viscous
  • viscositéphysics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
German Zähflüssigkeit, Viskosität
  • Zähflüssigkeitstate of being viscous
  • Viskositätstate of being viscous
  • Viskositätphysics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Greek ιξώδες, ιξώδες
  • ιξώδες (ixódes)state of being viscous
  • ιξώδες (ixódes)physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Hindi श्यानता, श्यानता
  • श्यानता (śyāntā)state of being viscous
  • श्यानता (śyāntā)physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Hungarian viszkozitás
  • viszkozitásphysics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Irish bealaitheacht, glóthaí
  • bealaitheachtstate of being viscous
  • glóthaístate of being viscous
  • righneachtstate of being viscous
  • slaodachtstate of being viscous
  • righneasphysics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • slaodachtphysics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Italian viscosità
  • viscositàstate of being viscous
Japanese 粘性, 粘度
  • 粘性 (nensei)state of being viscous
  • 粘度 (nendo)state of being viscous
  • 粘度 (nendo)physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Malay kelikatan, kelikatan
  • kelikatanstate of being viscous
  • kelikatanphysics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Norwegian Bokmål viskositet
  • viskositetphysics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Persian لزوجت
  • لزوجت (lozujat)state of being viscous
Polish lepkość, lepkość
  • lepkośćstate of being viscous
  • lepkośćphysics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • wiskozaphysics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Portuguese viscosidade, viscosidade
  • viscosidadestate of being viscous
  • viscosidadephysics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Russian вя́зкость, вя́зкость
  • вя́зкость (vjázkostʹ)state of being viscous
  • вя́зкость (vjázkostʹ)physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Spanish viscosidad
  • viscosidadstate of being viscous
Swedish viskositet
  • viskositetphysics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Tagalog lapuyot
  • lapuyotphysics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Thai ความหนืด, ความหนืด
  • ความหนืด (kwaam-nʉ̀ʉt)state of being viscous
  • ความหนืด (kwaam-nʉ̀ʉt)physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Ukrainian в'я́зкість, в'я́зкість
  • в'я́зкість (vʺjázkistʹ)state of being viscous
  • в'я́зкість (vʺjázkistʹ)physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Vietnamese (tính) nhớt, (tính) sền sệt
  • (tính) nhớtstate of being viscous
  • (tính) sền sệtstate of being viscous
  • (tính) lầy nhầystate of being viscous
  • độ nhớtphysics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with viscosity

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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