Inwardness - Definition

n 1: the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some
idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's
argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party";
"the nub of the story" [syn: kernel, substance, core,
center, centre, essence, gist, heart, heart and
soul, inwardness, marrow, meat, nub, pith,
sum, nitty-gritty]
2: preoccupation especially with one's attitudes and ethical or
ideological values; "the sensitiveness of James's characters,
their seeming inwardness"; "inwardness is what an Englishman
quite simply has, painlessly, as a birthright" [ant:
outwardness]
3: the quality or state of being inward or internal; "the
inwardness of the body's organs" [ant: externality,
outwardness]
4: preoccupation with what concerns human inner nature
(especially ethical or ideological values); "Socrates'
inwardness, integrity, and inquisitiveness"- H.R.Finch [syn:
inwardness, internality] [ant: outwardness]