openness — English Dictionary

Noun

1. Accommodating attitude or opinion, as in receptivity to new ideas, behaviors, cultures, peoples, environments, experiences, etc., different from the familiar, conventional, traditional, or one's own.

   Usage

   • Uncountable
   • usually

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   Getting iced out by the tech giants turned Parler into a cause célèbre for conservatives who complained they were being censored, as well as a test case for the openness of the internet.

   Francis riled conservative cardinals with his compassion for migrants and refugees, openness towards LGBTQ+ Catholics and demands for action on the climate crisis.

2. The degree to which a person, group, organization, institution, or society exhibits this liberal attitude or opinion.

   Usage

   • Uncountable
   • usually

3. Lack of secrecy; candour, transparency.

   Usage

   • Uncountable
   • usually

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   "Instead of openness, there was the cunning tactics of cover-up and a complete failure by General De Chastelain to deal with the vital numerics of decommissioning," said Ian Paisley, 79, the Protestant preacher who heads the Democratic Unionists, Northern Ireland's largest party.

4. The degree of accessibility to view, use, and modify in a shared environment with legal rights generally held in common and preventing proprietary restrictions on the right of others to continue viewing, using, modifying and sharing.

   Usage

   • Uncountable
   • usually

5. The degree to which a system operates with distinct boundaries across which exchange occurs capable of inducing change in the system while maintaining the boundaries themselves.

   Usage

   • Uncountable
   • usually

Noun

1. without obstructions to passage or view

   Broader terms

   spacingspatial arrangement

   Examples

   the openness of the prairies

2. characterized by an attitude of ready accessibility (especially about one's actions or purposes); without concealment; not secretive

   Synonyms

   nakedness

   Antonyms

   closeness

   Broader terms

   sociabilitysociableness

3. willingness or readiness to receive (especially impressions or ideas)

   Synonyms

   receptivenessreceptivity

   Broader terms

   willingness

   Examples

   he was testing the government's receptiveness to reform

   this receptiveness is the key feature in oestral behavior, enabling natural mating to occur

   More examples (1)

   their receptivity to the proposal