explosiveness

Meanings

1. 1noununcountabletechnical

   The quality of being able to burst apart or blow up with great force.

   Grammar: Uncountable, so it takes no plural and no 'a/an': the explosiveness of the gas.

   Patterns

   • the explosiveness of something

   Engineers tested the explosiveness of the dust inside the old silo.

   The explosiveness of the mixture surprised even the chemists who made it.

   Because of its explosiveness, the substance has to be stored in a thick steel container.

2. 2noununcountablesport

   The ability to move, react, or grow suddenly and with great energy.

   Grammar: Uncountable; often used after words like 'raw' or 'explosive' in sports talk: her raw explosiveness.

   Patterns

   • raw explosiveness
   • the explosiveness of someone's play

   The coach praised the young winger for the explosiveness of his first step.

   Weight training can build the explosiveness that sprinters need at the start.

   His explosiveness off the mark makes him hard to defend against.

3. 3noununcountablefigurative

   The state of a situation in which strong feelings can suddenly break out.

   Grammar: Uncountable and usually used about situations, moods, or topics rather than people.

   Patterns

   • the explosiveness of a situation
   • the explosiveness of a topic

   Everyone at the meeting sensed the explosiveness of the debate about pay.

   The explosiveness of the crowd worried the police on duty that night.

   He wrote about the explosiveness of politics in the region at that time.

Common combinations

raw explosiveness

Scouts look for raw explosiveness in young athletes.

the explosiveness of a substance

The explosiveness of the substance depends on how finely it is ground.

build explosiveness

Jump training is used to build explosiveness in the legs.

test the explosiveness of something

The lab tests the explosiveness of every new compound.

the explosiveness of a situation

Nobody underestimated the explosiveness of the situation.

Synonyms and how they differ

explosive power

A more concrete phrase used when you mean measurable force, as in 'explosive power in the legs'.

volatility

Used for situations that can change or flare up fast, but it also suggests instability, which 'explosiveness' does not.

force

A general word for strength or energy; it misses the idea of a sudden burst.

Opposites

Word family

explosive adjective

Able to blow up, or likely to cause a sudden outburst.

explosive noun

A substance or device that blows up.

explode verb

To burst apart violently, or to increase very quickly.

explosion noun

A sudden violent burst, or a sharp rise in something.

explosively adverb

In a way that involves sudden, violent force or speed.

Commonly confused: explosiveness or explosion? explosiveness or explosivity?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “explosiveness”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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