LIGHTNESS

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does lightness mean? 

• LIGHTNESS (noun)
  The noun LIGHTNESS has 6 senses:

1. a feeling of joy and pride

2. the property of being comparatively small in weight

3. the gracefulness of a person or animal that is quick and nimble

4. having a light color

5. the visual effect of illumination on objects or scenes as created in pictures

6. the trait of being lighthearted and frivolous

  Familiarity information: LIGHTNESS used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LIGHTNESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A feeling of joy and pride

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

elation; high spirits; lightness

Hypernyms ("lightness" is a kind of...):

joy; joyfulness; joyousness (the emotion of great happiness)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lightness"):

euphoria; euphory (a feeling of great (usually exaggerated) elation)

Derivation:

light (psychologically light; especially free from sadness or troubles)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The property of being comparatively small in weight

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

lightness; weightlessness

Context example:

the lightness of balsa wood

Hypernyms ("lightness" is a kind of...):

weight (the vertical force exerted by a mass as a result of gravity)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lightness"):

airiness; buoyancy (the property of something weightless and insubstantial)

Antonym:

heaviness (the property of being comparatively great in weight)

Derivation:

light ((used of soil) loose and large-grained in consistency)

light (of comparatively little physical weight or density)

light (very thin and insubstantial)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The gracefulness of a person or animal that is quick and nimble

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

agility; legerity; lightness; lightsomeness; nimbleness

Hypernyms ("lightness" is a kind of...):

gracefulness (beautiful carriage)

Derivation:

light (moving easily and quickly; nimble)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Having a light color

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("lightness" is a kind of...):

value (relative darkness or lightness of a color)

Antonym:

darkness (having a dark or somber color)

Derivation:

light ((used of color) having a relatively small amount of coloring agent)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The visual effect of illumination on objects or scenes as created in pictures

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

light; lightness

Context example:

he could paint the lightest light and the darkest dark

Hypernyms ("lightness" is a kind of...):

visual property (an attribute of vision)

Attribute:

light (characterized by or emitting light)

dark (devoid of or deficient in light or brightness; shadowed or black)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lightness"):

aura; aureole; gloriole; glory; halo; nimbus (an indication of radiant light drawn around the head of a saint)

sunniness (lightness created by sunlight)

highlight; highlighting (an area of lightness in a picture)

brightness (the location of a visual perception along a continuum from black to white)

Derivation:

light (characterized by or emitting light)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The trait of being lighthearted and frivolous

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

lightness; lightsomeness

Hypernyms ("lightness" is a kind of...):

giddiness; silliness (an impulsive scatterbrained manner)

Derivation:

light (silly or trivial)

light (intended primarily as entertainment; not serious or profound)

 Context examples 

Her great figure danced about with a wonderful lightness, and she tossed her head and pouted her lips as she answered back to the old, bent figure that addressed her.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

On the other hand, along with his ease of expression, he displayed a lightness and facetiousness of thought that delighted her.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Any of a group of colors reddish in hue, of medium to high lightness, and of low to moderate saturation.

(Pink, NCI Thesaurus)

“Then good-bye to the ancient and powerful town of Lepe,” quoth Ford, whose lightness of tongue could at times rise above his awe of Sir Nigel.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Fortunately it was not difficult to do, for Steerforth could always pass from one subject to another with a carelessness and lightness that were his own.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Any of a group of colors between red and yellow in hue that are medium to low in lightness and low to moderate in saturation.

(Brown, NCI Thesaurus)

“Cruel!” said Fanny, “quite cruel. At such a moment to give way to gaiety, to speak with lightness, and to you! Absolute cruelty.”

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

They dispersed about the room, reminding me, by the lightness and buoyancy of their movements, of a flock of white plumy birds.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The appearance of objects (or light sources) described in terms of a person's perception of their hue and lightness (or brightness) and saturation.

(Color, NCI Thesaurus)

An achromatic color of any lightness between the extremes of black and white.

(Gray, NCI Thesaurus)