Inwardness

noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The characteristic of being inward or directed towards the inside. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    preoccupation with what concerns human inner nature (especially ethical or ideological values) wordnet
  3. 3
    The internal or true state; the essential nature. countable, obsolete, uncountable

    "the inwardness of conduct"

  4. 4
    the quality or state of being inward or internal wordnet
  5. 5
    Familiarity; intimacy. countable, obsolete, uncountable

    "Signior Leonato, let the friar advise you: / And though you know my inwardness and love / Is very much unto the prince and Claudio, / Yet, by mine honour, I will deal in this / As secretly and justly as your soul / Should with your body."

Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    preoccupation especially with one's attitudes and ethical or ideological values wordnet
  2. 7
    Earnestness; heartiness. countable, obsolete, uncountable

    "The prophets perpetually reminded their nation of the superiority of judgment and justice to any exterior ceremony like sacrifice. […] [W]hat was wanted was more inwardness, more feeling. This was given by adding mercy and humbleness to judgment and justice."

  3. 8
    the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
coreessencegistheartheart and soulkernel

Example

More examples

"Sense cannot arrive at th’inwardness of things."

Etymology

From Middle English inwardnesse; analysable as inward + -ness.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.