intensity
Americannoun
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the quality or condition of being intense.
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great energy, strength, concentration, vehemence, etc., as of activity, thought, or feeling.
He went at the job with great intensity.
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a high or extreme degree, as of cold or heat.
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the degree or extent to which something is intense.
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a high degree of emotional excitement; depth of feeling.
The poem lacked intensity and left me unmoved.
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the strength or sharpness of a color due especially to its degree of freedom from admixture with its complementary color.
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Physics. magnitude, as of energy or a force per unit of area, volume, time, etc.
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Speech.
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the correlate of physical energy and the degree of loudness of a speech sound.
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the relative carrying power of vocal utterance.
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noun
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the state or quality of being intense
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extreme force, degree, or amount
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physics
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a measure of field strength or of the energy transmitted by radiation See radiant intensity luminous intensity
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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
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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
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Waves and Wave Properties - Introductory
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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:
Bamba, like Steur, Ewen Jaouen and Bazoumana Toure, will need time to adapt to the physicality and intensity of the Premier League.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
"We're dealing with a very dense stand of closely packed pines," firefighter Captain Wilfried Schneider told AFP, describing a fire of "rare" intensity.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
Built on intensity and the refusal of outward gestures, Golding’s books leave the reader feeling that they are less in need of supplementation than of sustained attention.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Some cycles are longer or shorter than others, and their intensity can vary considerably.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
And then the intensity in her gaze disappeared, replaced by a desperate sadness.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
They had identified more than 90 hospitals exposed to shaking intensities beyond six and seven on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
The document added that Canadian natural gas “has one of the lowest emissions intensities in the world. With the introduction of new technologies for methane abatement, we will be capable of further reducing emissions intensity.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 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
For low and intermediate intensities, the theoretical model captures only part of the experimental behavior.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 28, 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.
