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Synonyms

totality

American  
[toh-tal-i-tee] / toʊˈtæl ɪ ti /

noun

totalities plural
  1. something that is total or constitutes a total; the total amount; a whole.

  2. the state of being total; entirety.

  3. Astronomy. total obscuration in an eclipse.


totality British  
/ təʊˈtælɪtɪ /

noun

  1. the whole amount

  2. the state of being total

  3. the state or period of an eclipse when light from the eclipsed body is totally obscured

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of totality

First recorded in 1590–1600; total + -ity

Vocabulary lists containing totality

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The San Diego district attorney’s office said it took the totality of evidence into consideration when reaching a plea deal with Rylaarsdam, as well as input from the victim’s family.

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 10, 2026

While the UK will only see a partial eclipse, observers in Greenland, Iceland, northern Spain and parts of the Arctic Ocean will experience totality.

From BBC Jun. 6, 2026

A. I’m jealous of anyone who’s building a trip around seeing the solar eclipse in its path of totality.

From The Wall Street Journal May 29, 2026

“When you actually look at the totality of what’s being put forward, we are seeing a total gutting of a resource base,” she told NOTUS.

From Slate May 2, 2026

Taken individually, none of the twenty-five Norte Chico cities rivaled Sumer’s cities in size, but the totality was bigger than Sumer.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

The moon was bathed in the reflected red and orange hues of Earth’s sunsets and sunrises for about 1 1/2 hours, one of the longest totalities of the decade.

From Seattle Times May 16, 2022

Essentially, we need to understand that mass immunity is not a matter of totalities; rather, it is a continuum that stretches from "can't ever be infected" to "won't be hospitalized or will die if infected."

From Salon Sep. 11, 2020

The longest totalities provide about six minutes of being in the complete shadow of the moon.

From Salon Aug. 19, 2017

The paranoid outlook can be internally logical, never trivializing, and capable of explaining any or all observed phenomena as aspects of larger, symmetrical totalities.

From Slate May 31, 2017

The total Homer builds totalities, by the very necessity of his genius.

From Homer's Odyssey A Commentary by Snider, Denton Jaques

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