ness
noun
a headland; promontory; cape.
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ness
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-ness
-nessa native English suffix attached to adjectives and participles, forming abstract nouns denoting quality and state (and often, by extension, something exemplifying a quality or state).
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Ness
Nessnouna lake in NW Scotland, in the Great Glen: said to be inhabited by an aquatic monster. Length: 36 km (22.5 miles). Depth: 229 m (754 ft)
ness
1 American
[nes]
/ nɛs /
noun
-ness
2
American
ness
1
British
/ nɛs /
noun
-ness
2
British
suffix
Ness
3
British
/ nɛs /
noun
Usage
What does -ness mean? The suffix -ness is used to denote a quality or state of being. It is often used in a variety of everyday terms. The form -ness comes from Old English -nes. Similar suffixes in Latin include -itās and -tūdō, both of which indicate a state of being and are the sources of the English suffixes -ity and -tude. Check out our entries for both suffixes to learn how frequently they appear.
Etymology
Origin of ness1
First recorded before 900; Middle English -nes(s) (in placenames), in part continuing Old English næs, in part from Old Norse nes; akin to nose
Origin of -ness2
Middle English, Old English -nes, -nis, cognate with German -nis, Gothic -(n)assus; suffix originally (unattested) -assus; -n- by false division of words with adjective and past participle stems ending in -n-; compare Old English efnes (later efen-nys ) evenness ( def. )
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:
This still- ness doth dart with snake venom on itwell, / I’d have laughed.”
From Scientific American ● Jun. 19, 2013
A slider on the device adjusts the amount of "3-D ness," from maximum to 2-D.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 16, 2010
Clearly, it's not just grimy pelmets and overcooked breakfasts up for tut-tutting judgment but the lifestyles of the participants; there's a very British under-current of mean-spirited– ness to this show.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 28, 2010
Now still another voice has been add ed to what is rapidly becoming a busi ness babel in Washington: the American Business Conference was formed to speak for medium-size growth companies.
From Time Magazine Archive
He looked away at the trees that edged our clearing, their firelit trunks and the black ness beyond.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
They are common enough, but are they as alive, as little petrified or bookish, as our English -ness and -ful and un-?
From Language An Introduction to the Study of Speech by Edward Sapir
To be strictly accurate, the significance of the -ness is not quite as inherently determined, as autonomous, as it might be.
From Language An Introduction to the Study of Speech by Edward Sapir
Line-end hyphens were retained in past participles in i-, y- and equivalent, and after the prefixes out- and to-; they were omitted before common endings such as -lich, -ship, -ness, -full.
From A Concise Dictionary of Middle English From A.D. 1150 to 1580 by A. L. (Anthony Lawson) Mayhew
Radical element and affix, while measurably distinct, cannot be torn apart quite so readily as could the good and -ness of goodness.
From Language An Introduction to the Study of Speech by Edward Sapir
The psychological distinctness of the affixed elements in an agglutinative term may be even more marked than in the -ness of goodness.
From Language An Introduction to the Study of Speech by Edward Sapir
A large part of Orford Ness was purchased by the War Department in 1913 and was closely guarded to prevent public access.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
While out in the US, the pair were able to visit two rings, including one in Roswell, New Mexico, which was compared with the one in Orford Ness.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
"Due to the extreme secrecy under which they worked, people on Orford Ness never spoke of their projects and often took their details to their grave," Kirchner continued.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
No one on the site had any knowledge about the purpose of the rings, but their orientation and other details were similar to those on Orford Ness, Kirchner said.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
The unstinting efforts of this office in persuading Muggles that all photographic evidence of the Loch Ness kelpie is fake have gone some way to salvaging a situation that at one time looked exceedingly dangerous.
From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
