fullness

or ful·ness

[ fool-nis ]

noun

1. the quality or state of being filled completely or to utmost capacity:

   The fullness of our fruit baskets speaks of a magnificent harvest.

2. the quality or state of being filled or rounded out, as in form or shape:

   garments designed for a fullness of figure.

3. the state of having eaten enough, especially more than enough:

   I doubt you can get this sense of fullness from a diet of just salad.

4. the quality or condition of having ample width or folds of fabric:

   The fullness of the girls’ skirts helps us to approximate the date of the photo.

5. Music. the quality of possessing a richness or intensity of sound: a subtle lack of fullness in the opening passage.

   the fullness of the strings;

   a subtle lack of fullness in the opening passage.

6. (especially in wine, beer, or coffee) richness of body and flavor:

   Our merlot is prized for its color and fullness.

Word History and Origins

Origin of fullness¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English fulnesse, Old English fullnis, fillnis; full ¹( def ), -ness ( def )

Example Sentences

It’s as if the director herself has run into an existential choice: to show women in the fullness of their complications, frustrated and abandoned?

From Los Angeles Times

Layered on top of everything else we’ve read and watched, it’s the piece that at last helps us understand Stewart in her fullness.

From Salon

Intuitive eating means recognizing, understanding and responding to internal signals of hunger and fullness.

From Salon

That is the risk - that in the fullness of time this comes to be seen as a speech long on diagnosis but short on prescription.

From BBC

So fullness of that scene did have to be compressed down to that little couplet.

From Salon

Related Words

• completeness
• saturation
• totality
• wholeness