noun
( -es )
Etymology: inward (I) + -ness
1. : close acquaintance : familiarity , intimacy
read his way into a certain inwardness with Chaucer's idiom — John Speirs
2. : fundamental nature or meaning : essence , significance
apprehending the real inwardness of a plowman — C.D.Lewis
could not grasp the inwardness of the text — H.J.Laski
far from … certain as to the true inwardness of her violent dismissal — Joseph Conrad
3. : internal quality or substance
became aware of the inwardness of my body, of the blood moving in darkness — R.P.Warren
4.
a. : preoccupation with one's own affairs or attitudes : introspection , subjectivity
the sensitiveness of James's characters, their seeming inwardness — Morris Roberts
voluntary withdrawal … was to mean thereafter an inwardness of corporate life — W.L.Sperry
b. : preoccupation with ethical or ideological values : spirituality
Socrates' inwardness , integrity, and inquisitiveness — H.R.Finch