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WHITENESS
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The quality or state of the achromatic color of greatest lightness (bearing the least resemblance to black)
Synonyms:
white; whiteness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("whiteness" is a kind of...):
achromatic color; achromatic colour (a color lacking hue; white or grey or black)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "whiteness"):
alabaster (a very light white)
bleach (the whiteness that results from removing the color from something)
bone; ivory; off-white; pearl (a shade of white the color of bleached bones)
chalk (a pure flat white with little reflectance)
frostiness; hoariness (a silvery-white color)
Derivation:
white (being of the achromatic color of maximum lightness; having little or no hue owing to reflection of almost all incident light)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Lightness or fairness of complexion
Example:
only the whiteness of her cheeks gave any indication of the stress from which she was suffering
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("whiteness" is a kind of...):
complexion; skin color; skin colour (the coloring of a person's face)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The state of being unsullied by sin or moral wrong; lacking a knowledge of evil
Synonyms:
innocence; pureness; purity; sinlessness; whiteness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("whiteness" is a kind of...):
condition; status (a state at a particular time)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "whiteness"):
cleanness (without moral defects)
Derivation:
white (free from moral blemish or impurity; unsullied)
