noun
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the state or quality of being physical
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the physical characteristics of a person, object, etc
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of physicality
Explanation
Physicality is the quality of being closely connected in some way to the body. The physicality of your modern dance might surprise your audience, who weren't expecting so much stomping around and rolling on the floor. You can also use the term physicality for things that are real, concrete and tangible: "I liked the physicality of that art exhibit, all of those huge sculptures that we could touch." It often refers to the presence of physical human bodies, though: "The physicality of the toddlers' play surprised me — they looked like professional wrestlers!" The key to this noun's meaning is the presence of physical, "relating to the body."
Vocabulary lists containing physicality
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:
On Rock Music, Charli admits that the head-banging physicality of the Brat tour ended up giving her nerve damage in her neck.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
I had a feeling after the Norway match that Morgan Rogers had something special to give to us with his physicality and his body in the match against Argentina.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
"We were just slightly off it around our physicality, first time tackles, speed around the ruck – the basics where you need to be at it at this level," said Adams.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
For days before their brutal and bloody round-of-16 match against Paraguay, they devoted hours of practice time to countering soccer’s Dark Arts—trash talk, persistent fouling, and relentless physicality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
There was more physicality, for one thing, and that always helped: We received instruction in the use of the baton and in a variety of martial arts and other tough-guy methods, cumulatively labeled Defensive Tactics.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
“He wasn’t just playing three characters, but three different layers of the same character, each with unique looks, vocal ranges, physicalities and emotions,” says Matt Duffer, one of the show’s creators.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
Gladstone and DiCaprio fit persuasively even if their characters have contrasting vibes, temperaments and physicalities.
From New York Times ● May 20, 2023
The performances are clever, from the actresses’ barbed line deliveries to their exaggerated physicalities.
From New York Times ● Nov. 22, 2022
When I experience pain, my face can get weird, and I can get really quiet, so I wanted to explore the physicalities of it, because I haven't been able to do that.
From Salon ● Mar. 15, 2021
Where now his metaphysics, his gibes on the physicalities, the moralities, the spiritualities?—all bundled up in a vibrating chord.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume XXII by Wilson, John Mackay
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.
