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emotionality

B1
Uncommon

Pronunciation

UK

  • /ɪmˌəʊʃənˈælɪti/

US

  • /ɪmˌoʊʃənˈælɪti/

Meanings

Noun

  1. the quality of being emotional or emotionally expressive

  2. a person's tendency or capacity to experience and show emotion

Beyond the definition

Emotionality is not just about having feelings, because everyone has them. It is about how strongly a person feels things and how easily those feelings show on the outside. Think of someone who laughs loudly at a funny story, cries during a sad movie, or quickly shows anger, joy, or worry in their face and voice. That person may have high emotionality. Someone who stays calm and keeps their feelings hidden may have lower emotionality. The word often appears when people talk about personality, behavior, or the emotional power of speech, writing, or art.

Examples

  1. 1

    Child behavior

    Some children show high emotionality when their routine changes.

  2. 2

    Stress response

    The psychologist said his low emotionality helped him stay calm under pressure.

  3. 3

    Musical performance

    Her singing gave the song a depth and emotionality that the studio version lacked.

  4. 4

    Public debate

    The article criticized the emotionality of the public debate and asked for more evidence-based discussion.

See also

Similar

  • affectivity
  • emotiveness
  • emotional responsiveness

Shades of meaning

Contrast

Used with (collocations)

  • high emotionality
  • low emotionality
  • negative emotionality
  • trait emotionality

Word family

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Forms and spellings

1 form open this card.

Main spelling

  • emotionalitynoun