shallownessn.
/ˈʃaləʊnɪs/ The quality of being shallow:
a. in physical senses.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > vertical extent > shallowness > [noun]
scheldhedc1450
shallowness1552
ebbness1637
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Shallownes or sholenes in water, uadum.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde i. iii. f. 16v The keeles of the shippes often tymes rased the sandes for shalownes of the water.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 512 The cause of greater tides he thinketh to be the shallownesse, and narrower shoares.
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry xiii. 284 It may prove very commodious to place the Bed of the Cart under the Axle-tree at such a distance as the depth or shallowness of the Ways or Waters you are to go thro' requires.
1861 J. H. Parker Introd. Study Gothic Archit. (ed. 2) iii. 35 The wide-jointing of the masonry and the shallowness of the carving distinguish the old work from the new.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 17 The extreme shallowness of the Thames basin.
1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. V. 891 An increasing shallowness of breathing down to absolute cessation.
b. Want of depth of character, thought, knowledge, etc.; superficiality.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > superficial knowledge > [noun] > quality of
shallowness1590
superficiality1618
superficialness1624
superficialism1830
the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > mental wandering > light-mindedness > [noun]
lightnessc1384
levity1564
gaiety1573
light-mindedness?1574
shallowness1590
toyishness1595
lightheadedness1645
ludicrousness1664
unseriousness1672
flightiness1747
flirtishness1750
trivial-mindedness1872
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > emptiness or insubstantiality > want of depth
shallowness1590
1590 J. Greenwood Answere Giffords Def. 25 This bewrayeth your shallownes.
1623 J. Bingham tr. Xenophon Hist. 8 What a shallownesse it would be, to require that of a Generall, which if he granted, his enterprise should be quite ouerthrowne.
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. ii. vi. 228 There are other Persons without this Shallowness of Temper, Persons of a deeper Sense as to what is invisible and future.
1827 J. C. Hare & A. W. Hare Guesses at Truth (1873) 2nd Ser. 445 Some persons give one the notion of an abyss of shallowness.
1871 B. Taylor tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust II. ii. i. 113 I was a fool: My shallowness I now must ridicule.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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