English edit

Etymology edit

specific +‎ -ness

Noun edit

specificness (countable and uncountable, plural specificnesses)

  1. Specificity, the state of being specific
    • 1920, James Melvin Lee, Business writing, page 429:
      Test Copy for Specificness / Copy, if possible, should be specific.
    • 1921, Harry Tipper with Harry Levi Hollingworth, George Burton Hotchkiss, and Frank Alvah Parsons, Advertising, its principles and practice, pages 282–3:
      Headlines — Specificness / The headline should be specific. Such generalities as Wisdom, The Truth, Character and Reputation, Easy Economies, or Cheapest and Best have little value for the average reader.
    • 1981 August 9, “Stage View; PETER BROOK RETURNS TO CHEKHOV'S VISION”, in New York Times:
      To do a naturalistic play you have to respect the specificness of the period, place and social conditions
    • 1984, Rodney D. Huddleston, Introduction to the grammar of English, page 248:
      Definiteness, specificness and genericness
    • 2002, John Goldingay, Approaches to Old Testament Interpretation, page 40:
      A second problem about taking stories as moral examples is their specificness.

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