NARROWNESS

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does narrowness mean? 

• NARROWNESS (noun)
  The noun NARROWNESS has 4 senses:

1. the property of being narrow; having little width

2. an inclination to criticize opposing opinions or shocking behavior

3. a restriction of range or scope

4. a small margin

  Familiarity information: NARROWNESS used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NARROWNESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The property of being narrow; having little width

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

the narrowness of the road

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

breadth; width (the extent of something from side to side)

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

fineness; thinness (the property of being very narrow or thin)

Antonym:

wideness (the property of being wide; having great width)

Derivation:

narrow (not wide)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An inclination to criticize opposing opinions or shocking behavior

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

narrow-mindedness; narrowness

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

intolerance (unwillingness to recognize and respect differences in opinions or beliefs)

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

parochialism (a limitation of views or interests like that defined by a local parish)

pettiness (narrowness of mind or ideas or views)

provincialism (a lack of sophistication)

denominationalism; sectarianism (a narrow-minded adherence to a particular sect or party or denomination)

Derivation:

narrow (lacking tolerance or flexibility or breadth of view)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A restriction of range or scope

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

frustrated by the narrowness of people's horizons

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

limitation; restriction (a principle that limits the extent of something)

Derivation:

narrow (limited in size or scope)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A small margin

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

narrow margin; narrowness; slimness

Context example:

the landslide he had in the electoral college obscured the narrowness of a victory based on just 43% of the popular vote

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

margin (an amount beyond the minimum necessary)

Derivation:

narrow (very limited in degree)

 Context examples 

The smallness of the rooms above and below, indeed, and the narrowness of the passage and staircase, struck her beyond her imagination.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

He measured the narrowness of their minds by the minds of the thinkers in the books he read.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

But if the narrowness of the village life chafed my easy spirit, it was a torture to the keen and ardent mind of Boy Jim.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But great allowances should be given to a king, who lives wholly secluded from the rest of the world, and must therefore be altogether unacquainted with the manners and customs that most prevail in other nations: the want of which knowledge will ever produce many prejudices, and a certain narrowness of thinking, from which we, and the politer countries of Europe, are wholly exempted.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

When I allowed him to go on a little before, on account of the narrowness of the way, I observed that he carried his head with a lofty air that was particularly unpromising; and my mind misgave me that he had found out about my darling Dora.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)