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QUICKNESS
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A rate that is rapid
Synonyms:
celerity; quickness; rapidity; rapidness; speediness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("quickness" is a kind of...):
pace; rate (the relative speed of progress or change)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "quickness"):
fleetness (rapidity of movement)
immediacy; immediateness; instancy; instantaneousness (the quickness of action or occurrence)
despatch; dispatch; expedition; expeditiousness (the property of being prompt and efficient)
promptitude; promptness (the characteristic of doing things without delay)
Derivation:
quick (moving quickly and lightly)
quick (easily aroused or excited)
quick (performed with little or no delay)
quick (accomplished rapidly and without delay)
quick (hurried and brief)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Intelligence as revealed by an ability to give correct responses without delay
Synonyms:
mental quickness; quick-wittedness; quickness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("quickness" is a kind of...):
intelligence (the ability to comprehend; to understand and profit from experience)
Derivation:
quick (apprehending and responding with speed and sensitivity)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Skillful performance or ability without difficulty
Example:
he was famous for his facility as an archer
Synonyms:
adeptness; adroitness; deftness; facility; quickness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("quickness" is a kind of...):
skillfulness (the state of being cognitively skillful)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "quickness"):
touch (deftness in handling matters)
dexterity; manual dexterity; sleight (adroitness in using the hands)
Derivation:
quick (moving quickly and lightly)
Context examples:
Often had he heard of Sir Nigel's prowess and skill with all knightly weapons, but all the tales that had reached his ears fell far short of the real quickness and coolness of the man.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
They were far from being an irritable race; far from any quickness in catching, or bitterness in resenting, affronts: but here, when the whole was unfolded, was an insult not to be overlooked, nor, for the first half hour, to be easily pardoned.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
But, sitting at work, not far from Doctor Strong, was a very pretty young lady—whom he called Annie, and who was his daughter, I supposed—who got me out of my difficulty by kneeling down to put Doctor Strong's shoes on, and button his gaiters, which she did with great cheerfulness and quickness.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
There is a quickness of perception in some, a nicety in the discernment of character, a natural penetration, in short, which no experience in others can equal, and Lady Russell had been less gifted in this part of understanding than her young friend.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
A little quickness of voice there is which rather hurts the ear.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
Her quickness matched his; her ferocity equalled his; while he fought with his fangs alone, and she fought with her sharp- clawed feet as well.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
The power of doing anything with quickness is always prized much by the possessor, and often without any attention to the imperfection of the performance.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
It was evident from the beginning that Crab Wilson meant to throw no chance away, and that he would trust to his lightness of foot and quickness of hand until he should see something of the tactics of this rough-looking antagonist.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The Professor lost no time in his questioning; her answer came with equal quickness:—"All is dark. I hear water swirling by, level with my ears, and the creaking of wood on wood. Cattle low far off. There is another sound, a queer one like—" She stopped and grew white, and whiter still.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
Do not be afraid of my wanting the character, cried Julia, with angry quickness: I am not to be Agatha, and I am sure I will do nothing else; and as to Amelia, it is of all parts in the world the most disgusting to me.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
