intensity

[ in-ten-si-tee ]
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noun,plural in·ten·si·ties.
  1. the quality or condition of being intense.

  2. great energy, strength, concentration, vehemence, etc., as of activity, thought, or feeling: He went at the job with great intensity.

  1. a high or extreme degree, as of cold or heat.

  2. the degree or extent to which something is intense.

  3. a high degree of emotional excitement; depth of feeling: The poem lacked intensity and left me unmoved.

  4. the strength or sharpness of a color due especially to its degree of freedom from admixture with its complementary color.

  5. Physics. magnitude, as of energy or a force per unit of area, volume, time, etc.

  6. Speech.

    • the correlate of physical energy and the degree of loudness of a speech sound.

    • the relative carrying power of vocal utterance.

Origin of intensity

1
First recorded in 1655–65; intense + -ity

Other words for intensity

Other words from intensity

  • o·ver·in·ten·si·ty, noun
  • su·per·in·ten·si·ty, noun

Words Nearby intensity

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use intensity in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for intensity

intensity

/ (ɪnˈtɛnsɪtɪ) /


nounplural -ties
  1. the state or quality of being intense

  2. extreme force, degree, or amount

  1. physics

    • a measure of field strength or of the energy transmitted by radiation: See radiant intensity, luminous intensity

    • (of sound in a specified direction) the average rate of flow of sound energy, usually in watts, for one period through unit area at right angles to the specified direction: Symbol: I

  2. Also called: earthquake intensity geology a measure of the size of an earthquake based on observation of the effects of the shock at the earth's surface. Specified on the Mercalli scale: See Mercalli scale, Richter scale

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