intensity

[in-ten-si-tee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR intensity ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural in·ten·si·ties.

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.

Origin of intensity

First recorded in 1655–65; intense + -ity

Related formso·ver·in·ten·si·ty, nounsu·per·in·ten·si·ty, noun

Synonyms for intensity

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR intensity ON THESAURUS.COM

5. passion, emotion, energy, vigor.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for intensity

vigor, emotion, strength, severity, power, tension, fury, energy, excitement, earnestness, depth, magnitude, fervor, anxiety, concentration, ferocity, force, keenness, sharpness, strain

Examples from the Web for intensity

Contemporary Examples of intensity

He was just seamlessly being this person—the ferocity and intensity was incredible.
The Brit Who Stormed Broadway
Tim Teeman
December 7, 2014
Amina Alzouma (“Young Girl”) surprised us all with her disturbingly beautiful displays of vulnerability and intensity.
Nitehawk Shorts Festival: ‘Brute,’ a Twisted Take on Playing in the Dark
Julia Grinberg
November 28, 2014
“You are bringing someone into an atmosphere of intensity, and adding a lot of pressure to a first-time meeting,” says Berman.
How to Make It Through Thanksgiving Alive
Lizzie Crocker
November 26, 2014
The intensity of the airstrikes needs to reflect that urgency.
Drone ‘Shortage’ Hampers ISIS War
Dave Majumdar
November 18, 2014
The story is simple and one that belies the intensity of the conflict.
Heart of Darkness: Into Afghanistan’s Taliban Valley
Matt Trevithick, Daniel Seckman
November 15, 2014

Historical Examples of intensity

He wanted Avice Milbrey,—wanted her with an intensity as unreasoning as it was resistless.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
She spoke softly, but with an intensity of supreme feeling in her voice.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
Yet, in the intensity of her utterance, the feeble whisper struck like a shriek of horror.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
It is all Hamlet over again, Hamlet wrought up to a higher pitch of intensity.
The Man Shakespeare
Frank Harris
No one ever felt this intensity of jealous rage about a mother or a sister.
The Man Shakespeare
Frank Harris

British Dictionary definitions for intensity

intensity

noun plural -ties

the state or quality of being intense

extreme force, degree, or amount

physics

a measure of field strength or of the energy transmitted by radiationSee radiant intensity, luminous intensity
(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 directionSymbol: I

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 scaleSee Mercalli scale, Richter scale

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

Word Origin and History for intensity

formed in English 1660s from intense + -ity. Earlier was intenseness (1610s). Sense of "extreme depth of feeling" first recorded 1830.