-ity

1. The state or condition of not being typical or common; an irregularity: Charles had a slight abnormality on his foot which the doctor was treating.

A clubfoot is an abnormality that can be surgically corrected or improved.

2. A feature or characteristic that is not usual or ordinary, especially something that is worrying or which shows that there may be something wrong or harmful: The dictionary lists several abnormalities which can be considered mental health issues.
3. A difference in intelligence that falls outside the conventional range of intelligence: Greg's school is providing special classes for students with abnormalities who need special educational procedures.

1. The state or quality of being able to be wholly interested in something or able to give full attention to something or to someone: The absorbability of so much information made Doug very qualified to complete the project.
2. The full involvement in doing something that a person wants to achieve: Shirley's absorbabilities while studying at the university resulted in a doctor's degree that was attained in less time than was normally required.

1. An upward slope or grade; such as, in a road.
2. An upward slope on a hill.

1. Sourness of taste: Virginia couldn't eat the unripe cantaloupe because of its astringency and acerbity.
2. Harshness or severity: She had a reputation for expressing her temperamental acerbities in language which was very bitter and disturbing for those to whom she directed such acerbities.

1. Extreme bitterness: The buttercup causes an acridity of taste and it doesn't matter which variety of buttercup it is.
2. The quality of speech or tone being aggressively offensive or disagreeable: Suddenly there was an acridity and anger in his voice that caused all the other people in the room to look at the speaker in disbelief.

Sharpness; strictness: Mr. Smith was known for his acrity in teaching which created great respect among the students.

Acuteness, keeness, as of thought or vision: Jane's grandmother's dementia caused her to lose her cognitive acuity.

Virginia's visual acuity became a real problem because she couldn't see the fine details of objects anymore.

Obesity or a condition of being fat; corpulence; fatness: Dr. Thin suggested exercise and a specific diet to reduce Agatha's adiposity, which showed an excessive accumulation of lipids (fat) in her body.

The quality of being friendly or easy to get along with; approachable: John, the new neighbor, was so helpful, courteous, and generous and his affability was much liked and appreciated among the others living on the street.

1. A feeling of closeness, understanding, and sympathy between people: Some classical musicians also have an affinity for jazz.
2. Family resemblance or a relationship by marriage: There was a special affinity between the two friends apparently because they were also cousins.
3. An inherent similarity between people or things: There is a close affinity between lemons and limes.

Sarah felt an affinity with all of those who suffered because their pains were also her pains.

4. Etymology: Affinity comes from Latin affinitas, which means "kinship by marriage, as distinct from blood kinship".

In the 18th century, naturalists started to use affinity to mean a family resemblance (as between cats and lions).

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The degree of alcoholic content of something: Alcoholicity is the strength of an alcoholic liquor.

1. The ability to perform manual skills easily with one or the other hand: Ambidexterity involves writing or using cutlery with the same adroitness, or proficiency, because there is no definite handedness or preference for using just one hand to do anything.
2. General skillfulness, especially with the hands; very skillful and versatile; using both hands with equal success: Jane was an expert at making her own ceramics, which was of excellent quality and showed her ambidexterity and mastery in creating perfectly formed vases and bowls.

1. A situation in which something can be understood in more than one way and it is not clear which meaning is intended: The journalist was told by his editor to remove the ambiguities from his article by adding more valid details and to clarify what was going on.
2. An expression or statement that has more than one meaning: There were ambiguities in the diagnosis by the physician regarding Nick's mental condition.
3. That which causes uncertainty or confusion: Because of the nature of the ambiguities of the answers provided by the politician, people were becoming less confident in his qualifications.

The inability to perform acts requiring manual skills with either or both hands: Sometimes Mike had a handicap as a mechanic because of his awkward ambilevosities.

Jane broke both of her arms when she fell down the stairs and had them in casts; the ambilevosity that followed prevented her from doing anything until her arms were healed again.

Little Tommy was just one year old and the ambilevosity of holding a cup properly to drink from still needed more development!

A state of friendliness, cordiality, and peace among individuals, nations, etc.: After years of feuding, the sons of the two families negotiated an amity; and, as a result, both of their families were much happier. © ALL rights are reserved.

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