Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of profundity
1375–1425; late Middle English profundite < Late Latin profunditās. See profound, -ity
Explanation
Profundity describes being thoughtful, deep, and wise. Your profundity might inspire friends to come to you for advice. Profundity comes from the word profound and it means a quality of depth or wisdom that is meaningful or even transformational. The profundity of a piece of music might move you to tears, and the profundity of certain philosophies can be deep — and a bit confusing. Profundity can describe something that's intense, like the profundity of the silence in the room following the announcement of bad news.
Vocabulary lists containing profundity
"Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "P"
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Excerpt from "Letter from Birmingham Jail"
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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:
Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto let a day’s stroll linger into profundity, the twilight dimming and human connection brewing in all its possibilities.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026
In “Walden,” he found constant wonder in the obvious; in “Civil Disobedience,” he mined moral profundity out of common sense.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
Part of the beauty and profundity of people’s psychedelic experiences is the ineffable—but the systems that run on Western science are hungry for hard data, replicable and reliable outcomes, and, perhaps most importantly, profit.
From Slate ● Jan. 30, 2026
Despite the internet’s penchant for confusing popularity with profundity, “Heated Rivalry,” Canada’s completely inescapable gay romance series about two star-crossed hockey players, only has glimpses of true complexity.
From Salon ● Jan. 2, 2026
Her mind traveled crooked streets and aimless goat paths, arriving sometimes at profundity, other times at the revelations of a three-year-old.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
For those, to put it more generously, pulled in by the simple pleasures and crystalline profundities of the text.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
The domineering Sarastro, an all-powerful priest, bellows spiritual profundities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
After which, 22 men will take the field to kick a ball and each other about it, and we will extrapolate revelatory profundities based largely on the words “YES!”
From The Guardian ● Aug. 5, 2018
He wrote, “The opinion is couched in a style that is as pretentious as its content is egotistic,” adding: “Of course the opinion’s showy profundities are often profoundly incoherent.”
From Washington Post ● Jun. 26, 2015
This is one of the profundities that we advertised in advance.
From The Book of the Damned by Charles Fort
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.
