intentness

noun

Definition of intentnessnext
as in earnestness
a mental state free of jesting or trifling studied the dance steps with obvious intentness

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for intentness
  1. earnestness
  2. gravity
  3. earnest
  4. seriousness
  5. solemnity
  6. decisiveness
  7. purposefulness
  8. attentiveness
Noun
  • That the earnestness the genre requires galls us cynics, who love to hide in our books, away from all those pesky bodies in the first place?
    — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 13 Aug. 2026
  • There are hints of Gilmore Girls in the show’s quaint setting and generational role reversal, traces of Dawson’s Creek in its adolescent earnestness.
    — Judy Berman, Time, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of earnestness
Noun
  • There’s a gravity, even a melancholy to her Mary Stone, which drew on Fabares’ ability to project a genuine inner life into the least promising scenarios.
    — Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Biting into it feels tectonic, cracking and flaking and crumbling, the gravity of umami keeping it all together.
    — The Bon Appétit Staff, Bon Appetit Magazine, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of gravity
Noun
  • By May 2026, all 11 of xAI’s original cofounders had departed the company, a cascade that began in earnest in February when Tony Wu, described as one of the most operationally central cofounders, announced his resignation.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 24 June 2026
  • Modern viticulture began in earnest here in the 1970s before blossoming in the ’90s.
    — Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 22 June 2026
Definition of earnest
Noun
  • Interim Police Chief Doug Brinkley issued an executive order May 20 barring officers from initiating pursuits solely for minor traffic offenses or city ordinance violations unless something increases the seriousness of the incident.
    — Ben Wheeler, Kansas City Star, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Her ethos has long been that each opponent should be treated with equal seriousness.
    — Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of seriousness
Noun
  • Gore is best known for Make America Great Again, her 2016 naked portrait of Trump with the paunch and solemnity of the great men of art history, adding, crucially, the tiniest of compensatory micropenises.
    — Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 14 June 2026
  • As his own self-celebration has fizzled, a void has opened between the scheduled roster of events and the true purpose and meaning of the solemnity of July 4, 2026.
    — David Frum, The Atlantic, 31 May 2026
Definition of solemnity
Noun
  • Black got the start and ran for 33 yards on eight carries, showing the decisiveness and explosiveness the 49ers liked about him during his time helping Indiana win a national championship last season.
    — Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 21 Aug. 2026
  • At times, Arsenal have lacked the decisiveness to move players on, even when the timing is uncomfortable.
    — Kaya Kaynak, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of decisiveness
Noun
  • Yet his playing had an otherworldly serenity that contrasted with Williams’s gentle purposefulness.
    — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026
  • This month also reconnects you with a sense of purposefulness.
    — Meghan Rose, Glamour, 1 Oct. 2025
Definition of purposefulness
Noun
  • The opening up to the friendship with Renata, the attentiveness with Luis, and not being set on killing Negan are monumental changes for her.
    — Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Thanks to the controller’s attentiveness, a possible mid-air collision may have been prevented, especially if the pilots operating the individual planes thought the controller was giving them the same flight instructions.
    — Natalia Senanayake, PEOPLE, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of attentiveness
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

intently
intentness
intents
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Cite this Entry

“Intentness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/intentness. Accessed 26 Aug. 2026.

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