boldness

From Middle English boldnesse, equivalent to bold +‎ -ness. Cognate with Scots baldness, bauldness (“boldness”).

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈboʊldnəs/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbəʊldnəs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bold‧ness

boldness (usually uncountable, plural boldnesses)

1. The state of being bold; courage.
   • 1906, Rudyard Kipling, Puck of Pook's Hill:

     Then he warmed to it, and smoothly set out all his shifts, malices, and treacheries, his extreme boldnesses (he was desperate bold); his retreats, shufflings, and counterfeitings (he was also inconceivably a coward) […]

2. presumptuousness
3. (typography) The relative weight of a font; the thickness of its strokes.

• See also Thesaurus:courage

• bondless