blindness

American  

[blahynd-nis] / ˈblaɪnd nɪs /

noun

1. the inability to see; the condition of having severely impaired or absolutely no sense of sight.

   Patients are first asked if their blindness is congenital or the result of injury or disease.

2. an unwillingness or inability to perceive or understand; lack of judgment; ignorance.

   Your blindness to this behavior has allowed his anxiety to worsen.

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blindness Scientific  

/ blīnd′nĭs /

1. A lack or impairment of vision in which maximal visual acuity after correction by refractive lenses is one-tenth normal vision or less in the better eye. Blindness can be genetic but is usually acquired as a result of injury, cataracts, or diseases such as glaucoma or diabetes. In Asia and Africa, trachoma is a common infectious cause of blindness.

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Etymology

Origin of blindness

First recorded before 1000; blind ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )

Example Sentences

She says the International Working Group’s criteria requiring cognitive impairment to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease is problematic, likening it to requiring someone with diabetes to wait until they have blindness or kidney failure to be diagnosed.

From The Wall Street Journal

The answer isn’t ideological blindness so much as methodological constraint.

From Barron's

Andy was born with retinal dystrophy, an inherited condition causing progressive vision loss, which eventually leads to tunnel vision and potentially blindness.

From BBC

The inquiry's senior counsel went on to say that managers at the health board had failed to ask questions about the hospital building and had instead showed a "wilful blindness".

From BBC

Previous additions include Barbie dolls with Type 1 diabetes, Down syndrome and blindness.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• defect
• myopia