boldness

UK/ˈbəʊldnəs/US/ˈboʊldnəs/

nounB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,607 of 15,258neutral

Boldness is willingness to take risks and speak out. Sheer boldness, boldness of the design, admire his boldness.

It is admired in hindsight and worried about in advance, which is why the same act is called boldness or recklessness depending on how it turned out. Of a design or a colour it means strength and confidence. Note bold, and that the Old English word meant brave.

Definitions of boldness

1nounboldnessWillingness to take risks and speak out.B2+
“Her boldness in standing up to the boss impressed everyone.”

boldness is a quality of courage.

Where it comes from

Middle English boldnesse is bold plus -ness. Old English beald meant brave or confident.

Middle English
boldnesse
English, today
boldness

From Middle English boldnesse, equivalent to bold + -ness. Cognate with Scots baldness, bauldness (“boldness”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Word Building

Practise this word

boldness in the wild

The boldness and weight at this smaller size can actually make a piece of text more difficult to read.
Type color
In magic it is believed to be an amulet, granting the wearer a heightened sense of courage and boldness.
Lapis alectorius
Musical terms "allegro di bravura" and "con bravura" indicate boldness, fire and brilliance.
Bravura
Nevertheless the joyful boldness suspends between Saint Stephen and the Graben an irrevocable sentence, o Viennese.
Flight over Vienna
But the extraordinary boldness of the heroine made her strong enough to endure all such hardships.
Muthassi (novel)

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

bold

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