soundness

[ sound-nis ]

noun

1. freedom from injury, damage, defect, disease, etc.; health or good condition:

   Homebuyers should engage a professional home inspector to check the property's safety and soundness.

2. the fact or quality of being financially strong, secure, or reliable:

   Over the next few months, more reports began to surface that put the soundness of his investments into question.

3. the fact or quality of being well-informed or well-founded, sensible, valid, etc.:

   My criticisms were about soundness of judgment, not about his intelligence or integrity.

4. (of sleep) the fact or quality of being uninterrupted and deep:

   Caffeine altered participants’ estimates of the time it took to fall asleep as well as the soundness of sleep.

5. freedom from moral weakness or defect:

   Integrity is soundness of character—being honest and reliable, and true to yourself in matters of conscience.

6. freedom from theological error:

   Persons are received into the assembly based on adequate testimony to their conversion, soundness of doctrine, and holiness of life.

7. the fact or quality of being vigorous, thorough, or severe:

   The 21–10 score does not accurately measure the soundness of the beating Ohio State administered to the Spartans.

Word History and Origins

Origin of soundness¹

sound ²( def ) + -ness ( def )

Example Sentences

The band’s harder, more anthemic sound, which put them on the map and landed their fantastic single “On” at the fourth spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in February, is absent here.

From Vox

There’s not actually a sound, but the chirps contain an anonymous, constantly changing code that can be picked up by other phones you come near.

From Washington Post

We were all very big Maya fans before we came to the show, so I think we had a pretty good idea of what she sounded like and her mannerisms.

From Eater

“I’m going to try not to sound like a broken record,” he told the lawmakers.

From Washington Post

The dining room is contemporary and corporate, even a bit of a throwback when the not-so-background music has me thinking about sound checks for the first time in ages.

From Washington Post

ProPublica asked a third party to read the two evaluations and to assess the soundness of their methods.

From The Daily Beast

That miscalculation could mean serious trouble in terms of actuarial soundness.

From The Daily Beast

Social security encourages behavior which undermines the actuarial soundness of social security itself.

From The Daily Beast

But I feel sanguine in the spirit of the men; sanguine in my own spirit; sanguine in the soundness of my scheme.

From Project Gutenberg

The thing carries itself to my maturer and gratified sense as with every symptom of soundness, an insolence of health and joy.

From Project Gutenberg

This proves the soundness of the ground on which their truth is based.

From Project Gutenberg

Mental soundness is merged in unsoundness by degrees of decadence which are so small as to be practically inappreciable.

From Project Gutenberg

There was a soundness of sense in this which mollified any feeling of disgust which Emily might have felt at the man's vulgarity.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• correctness
• durability
• integrity
• solidity
• solvency