-ness — English Dictionary

Suffix

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

   Usage

   • Countable
   • morpheme
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   More examples (3)

   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!

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

   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...

2. Appended 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)".

   Usage

   • Countable
   • morpheme
   • Uncountable

   Synonyms

   -ability-dom-hood-ibility-icity-ism-itude-ity-osity-ship-th

   Examples

   calm + -ness → calmness

   eerie + -ness → eeriness

   More examples (2)

   kind + -ness → kindness

   one + -ness → oneness

3. Appended 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.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • morpheme
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   that + -ness → thatness

   tree + -ness → treeness

   More examples (1)

   thug + -ness → thugness