lucidity

noun

lu·​cid·​i·​ty lü-ˈsi-də-tē 

1

: clearness of thought or style

the lucidity of the explanation

2

: a presumed capacity to perceive the truth directly and instantaneously : clairvoyance

when the spirit is drawn to lucidity by the immediacy of death

—Graham Greene

Synonyms

• clarity
• explicitness
• lucidness
• perspicuity
• perspicuousness
• simplicity

Example Sentences

the lucidity of the recipe should ensure a minimum of confusion

Recent Examples on the Web

So lucidity could offer neuroscientists a window onto the nature of dream unawareness. —Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 1 Aug. 2013

Oh is an actor of remarkable lucidity; gorgeous, with a clarity of emotion that pierces the soul. —Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 16 Apr. 2022

The exercises help scientists communicate with a warmth and lucidity that makes their work more understandable to a lay audience and to colleagues across other disciplines. —Carl Zimmer, Discover Magazine, 18 May 2011

This is largely because institutions such as the Doha Film Institute have had the lucidity and the smarts to put a lot of intriguing new talents on the map. —Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 2 Dec. 2022

More About Dreams: Then, in a 2021 study by Karen Konkoly and other researchers at Northwestern University, dreamers performed a similar left, right, left, right eye motion to indicate their lucidity. —Alisa Bowman, Discover Magazine, 22 Dec. 2022

With singular lucidity Adams plucked ideas from the air and pinned them to the page, layering in the moral dimensions, whipping up emotions, seizing and shaping the popular imagination. —Stacy Schiff, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Sep. 2022

As the title suggests, the dance is made up of fragments—particularly of Balanchine—but Tanowitz combines them in a way that gives the body great geometric lucidity. —Jennifer Homans, The New Yorker, 18 July 2022

Her mad scene proved a transcendental 15 minutes of lucidity, an illumination of the world as it was meant to be. —Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2022

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Word History

First Known Use

1810, in the meaning defined at sense 1