Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The quality of being black; black color; darkness.
  • noun Moral darkness; atrocity or enormity in wickedness.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The quality or state of being black; black color; atrociousness or enormity in wickedness.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable The state, property or quality of being black.
  • noun countable The result or product of being black.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun total absence of light
  • noun the quality or state of the achromatic color of least lightness (bearing the least resemblance to white)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From black +‎ -ness.

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Examples

  • Well I guess my blackness is a little lighter now. obama is a liar

    NRCC targets Obama for saying Cambridge cop 'acted stupidly' 2009

  • Some reviewers have criticized what they see as a propensity toward contradiction in the book, but one wonders whether it isn't an inevitable byproduct of her approach; Dickerson imagines a world where "blackness" is allowed its contradictions, and doesn't require a party line.

    Getting Over Race 2004

  • Some reviewers have criticized what they see as a propensity toward contradiction in the book, but one wonders whether it isn't an inevitable byproduct of her approach; Dickerson imagines a world where "blackness" is allowed its contradictions, and doesn't require a party line.

    Getting Over Race 2004

  • Brydon was instantly enveloped in blackness, unable to see or feel anything at all.

    The Gauntlet Thrown Chapter Thirty Seven xcpublishing 2009

  • In contrast, I feel that blackness is something that will be highly relevant to a financially significant number of readers.

    Superhero Nation: how to write superhero novels and comic books » Open Writing Forum 2009

  • There, of course ARE books about kids whose blackness is incidental to the story.

    February Notes Roger Sutton 2009

  • So I started mulling things over, thinking of cool stuff I could include — newts, banana slugs, pit toilets, sinister park rangers, the inside-a-coffin blackness of two a.m., the weirdos in the campsites nearby, etc.

    Campfire Stories « 2009

  • Her blackness is an important part of her character and helps to determine why she does what she does within the story.

    My only statement on the cultural appropriation imbroglio ktempest 2009

  • They are among the oldest Madonna images in the world, and their blackness is purportedly not related to race or ethnic origins, but has to do with obscure symbolic meanings and connections to earlier goddesses.

    An Interview with Sue Monk Kidd 2010

  • It's amazing, Obama's blackness is highlighted against his whiteness, while it's 50/50, for purely racist and political gain by MCain and Clinton.

    Obama adds two superdelegates, one's a former Clinton backer 2008

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