profundity
The state of being profoundThe state of being profound; magnitude, gravity, or intensity.
Meaning
4 senses(countable, uncountable)The state of being profound; magnitude, gravity, or intensity.
The situation's profundity escaped most observers.
(countable, uncountable)Deep intellect or insight.
Near-synonyms: brilliance, genius
Unfortunately, Andrew's colossal ego means people miss his profundity.
the quality of being physically deep
(countable, uncommon, uncountable)A great depth; a deep place.
Near-synonym: abyss
I delved the abyssal profundities of Neptune's realm.
(archaic, countable, uncountable)Depth; the state of possessing great downwards extent.
Examples
2 sentencesSedulously avoid all polysyllabic profundity, pompous prolixity, psittaceous vacuity, ventriloquial verbosity, and vaniloquent vapidity.
Pablo and Rosalind were surprised by the profundity of the child's simple question.
Translations
2 languagesOrigin
Inherited from Middle English profundite, from Middle French profondite or its etymon LatiInherited from Middle English profundite, from Middle French profondite or its etymon Latin profunditās; by surface analysis, prof(o)und + ity. Compare profoundness.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: profundities| Singular | profundity |
|---|---|
| Plural | profundities |
regular
Synonyms
10 synonyms- intellectual depth, penetrating knowledge, keen insight, etc.:profoundness
- the quality of being physically deep:deepnessprofoundness
- the intellectual ability to penetrate deeply into ideas:astutenessprofoundnessdepthdeepness
- wisdom that is recondite and abstruse and profound:reconditenessabstrusenessabstrusityprofoundness
Antonyms
6 antonymsWord family
2 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.