Inwardness

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Inwardness \In"ward*ness\, n.
     1. Internal or true state; essential nature; as, the
        inwardness of conduct.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Sense can not arrive to the inwardness


              Of things.                            --Dr. H. More.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Intimacy; familiarity. [Obs.] --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Heartiness; earnestness.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              What was wanted was more inwardness, more feeling.
                                                    --M. Arnold.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  inwardness
       n 1: the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some
            idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's
            argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party";
            "the nub of the story" [syn: {kernel}, {substance}, {core},
             {center}, {essence}, {gist}, {heart}, {heart and soul},
             {marrow}, {meat}, {nub}, {pith}, {sum}, {nitty-gritty}]
       2: preoccupation especially with one's attitudes and ethical or
          ideological values; "the sensitiveness of James's
          characters, their seeming inwardness"; "Socrates'
          inwardness, integrity, and inquisitiveness" [ant: {outwardness}]
       3: the quality or state of being inward or internal; "the
          inwardness of the body's organs" [ant: {outwardness}]
       4: preoccupation with what concerns human inner nature
          (especially ethical or ideological values); "Socrates'
          inwardness, integrity, and inquisitiveness"- H.R.Finch
          [ant: {outwardness}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  21 Moby Thesaurus words for "inwardness":
     depth, essentiality, experience, familiarity, fundamentality,
     immanence, inbeing, indigenousness, indwelling, inherence,
     innateness, innerness, inness, interiority, internality,
     internalization, intimacy, intrinsicality, introversion,
     nonobjectivity, subjectivity