intensity
Americannoun
-
intensities
plural
-
the quality or condition of being intense.
-
great energy, strength, concentration, vehemence, etc., as of activity, thought, or feeling.
He went at the job with great intensity.
-
a high or extreme degree, as of cold or heat.
-
the degree or extent to which something is intense.
-
a high degree of emotional excitement; depth of feeling.
The poem lacked intensity and left me unmoved.
-
the strength or sharpness of a color due especially to its degree of freedom from admixture with its complementary color.
-
Physics. magnitude, as of energy or a force per unit of area, volume, time, etc.
-
Speech.
-
the correlate of physical energy and the degree of loudness of a speech sound.
-
the relative carrying power of vocal utterance.
-
noun
-
the state or quality of being intense
-
extreme force, degree, or amount
-
physics
-
a measure of field strength or of the energy transmitted by radiation See radiant intensity luminous intensity
-
I. (of sound in a specified direction) the average rate of flow of sound energy, usually in watts, for one period through unit area at right angles to the specified direction
-
-
Also called: earthquake intensity. geology a measure of the size of an earthquake based on observation of the effects of the shock at the earth's surface. Specified on the Mercalli scale See Mercalli scale Richter scale
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of intensity
Explanation
The way he stared deep into her eyes was making her uncomfortable. For a first date, this was too much intensity. Intensity is the degree, volume, or magnitude of a thing, such as fire, emotion, weather, work, or passion. Intensity is a word sometimes associated with passion, fire, and violence. It's used when discussing the level of such things as a love affair or, perhaps, a flame. For example, the intensity of the relationship between Bergman and Bogart in Casablanca was very high. Likewise, meteorologists measure the intensity of tornados on the Fujita Scale. Some things are meant to show intensity, such as performance by a great musician. Other things, such as, say, a blanket...not so much.
Vocabulary lists containing intensity
Holes
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Waves and Wave Properties - Introductory
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Waves and Wave Properties - Middle School
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
By tucking Azure inside Intelligent Cloud, Microsoft hides the margins, costs and capital intensity of its AI build-out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
France sees several dozen tornadoes of varying intensity each year, according to weather agency Meteo-France.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
The Toon Army were right behind the new manager and his team, reshaping after the loss of Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes, and they responded with real intensity.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
The findings suggest that exercise intensity may strongly influence the proteins and metabolites released into the bloodstream and, in turn, the way tissues throughout the body respond.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
The fire in its eyes glowed with a white-hot intensity, and the look it shot May could have burned what was left of the room.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
He also found Gisèle de Lestrange, the French printmaker he married in 1952, a companion whose discipline steadied him but could not protect either of them from his intensities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
Mythos — trained to perform deep, multistep reasoning at higher intensities than previous models — is exceptionally good at finding and exploiting vulnerabilities.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 18, 2026
Lu explained that excessive light loss prevents the device from reaching the high intensities required for optimal operation.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 24, 2026
When China is set aside, emerging markets continue to attract capital at intensities similar to the before the Covid-19 pandemic.
From Barron's ● Dec. 22, 2025
If it were right, however, the model would also accurately predict the relative intensities of the various X-ray reflections.
From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson
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.
