physicality

Meanings

1. 1noununcountablesport

   The use of strength, speed and body contact, especially in sport or performance.

   Grammar: Not used with an or in the plural: the team's physicality.

   Patterns

   • the physicality of something
   • physicality in something

   The coach wanted more physicality in the middle of the field.

   Rugby is known for its intense physicality.

   The young boxer matched the champion's physicality for three rounds.

2. 2noununcountableformal

   The quality of having a body or of being physical, as opposed to mental or spiritual.

   Grammar: Often appears in discussions of art, dance or philosophy: the physicality of paint.

   Patterns

   • the physicality of something

   The dancer's physicality made every gesture feel alive.

   The sculptor loved the raw physicality of stone.

   Online learning lacks the physicality of a real workshop.

3. 3noununcountable

   A strong sense of the body in the way a person looks or moves.

   Grammar: Often used to describe an actor or character: an actor's physicality.

   Patterns

   • an actor's physicality

   The actor changed his physicality to play an old man.

   Her physicality on stage was striking, all sharp angles and speed.

Common combinations

raw physicality

The film captures the raw physicality of working on a fishing boat.

sheer physicality

They won through sheer physicality, not clever tactics.

bring physicality

The new signing brings physicality to the defence.

intense physicality

Wrestling demands intense physicality and daily training.

match someone's physicality

She struggled to match her opponent's physicality.

Synonyms and how they differ

strength

Strength is just power, while physicality includes bodily presence and contact.

athleticism

Athleticism suggests skill, speed and fitness, whereas physicality leans toward force and contact.

muscularity

Muscularity describes how muscled a body is, which is narrower than physicality.

toughness

Toughness emphasizes resilience and willingness to take knocks, not the physical style of play.

Opposites

Word family

physical adjective

relating to the body or to material things

physically adverb

in a bodily way

physique noun

the shape and size of a person's body

physics noun

the science of matter and energy

Commonly confused: physicality or physicist?

Practice

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