from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
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}, {centre}, {essence}, {gist}, {heart}, {heart and
soul}, {inwardness}, {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"; "inwardness is what an Englishman
quite simply has, painlessly, as a birthright" [ant:
{outwardness}]
3: the quality or state of being inward or internal; "the
inwardness of the body's organs" [ant: {externality},
{outwardness}]
4: preoccupation with what concerns human inner nature
(especially ethical or ideological values); "Socrates'
inwardness, integrity, and inquisitiveness"- H.R.Finch [syn:
{inwardness}, {internality}] [ant: {outwardness}]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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]