thickness
Americannoun
-
the state or quality of being thick
-
the dimension through an object, as opposed to length or width
-
a layer of something
-
a thick part
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of thickness
before 900; Middle English thiknesse, Old English thicnes. See thick, -ness
Explanation
The word thickness refers to the distance between the sides of an object, or how dense and solid something feels — like the weight of a cozy blanket or the richness of a creamy soup. Thickness can refer to the physical width of an item, like the thickness of a book or a slice of bread. It can also describe the concentration of a substance, such as the thickness of paint on a wall. Thickness can even describe something’s heaviness or sturdiness, like the solid weight of a durable winter coat.
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:
My father and the others could give a dissertation on different types of screws: steel, stainless steel, iron, aluminum, thread angles and thickness, and on and on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
"That put a constraint on the overall thickness of the magnetic material and thus, its ability to retain memory in the long term."
From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2026
Treatment ended once the fat thickness fell below a specified threshold.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
The Samsung Galaxy Fold 8 is just 201 grams, with a thickness of 9.7 millimeters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
The chimneys were contributing their thickness to the clammy air, and the pleasant reek of smoked herring and mackerel and haddock seemed to breathe out of the very cobbles.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
They varied several properties of the setup, including the cavity geometry, characteristic frequency, material thicknesses, dielectric materials, and metallic strips.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 3, 2026
Norwegian surveys have proven crust deposits with thicknesses of up to 40 centimetres.
From Reuters ● Sep. 14, 2023
There are different curl patterns, porosity, and thicknesses of hair.
From National Geographic ● Aug. 22, 2023
The team then tested the stability of the lava under a range of speeds, viscosities, and layer thicknesses.
From Science Magazine ● Jun. 9, 2023
“They’re photographing them through several thicknesses of cheesecloth,” he spluttered.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
