What does safeness mean?
“Safeness” is a less common English noun meaning the state or quality of being safe. It can refer to physical security, as when someone discusses “the safeness of a building,” or to freedom from danger more generally. Unlike “safety,” which is the usual modern word in formal, technical, and everyday contexts, “safeness” tends to sound plainer, older, or literary, and it is not often used when talking about a system, field, or set of practices. The expression can also suggest the protection of a person or thing from harm, though “safety” normally communicates that idea more directly. “Safeness” is therefore useful chiefly when its focus is the condition itself rather than the discipline or measures that create it. It belongs to the productive English family formed from “safe” with the suffix “-ness,” alongside “safety,” “safely,” and “unsafe.” Although understood in modern English, it is uncommon enough that “safety” is usually the clearer and more idiomatic choice.
nounThe state or quality of being safe; safety.
- The state or quality of being safe; safety.
"The old bridge was rebuilt to improve the safeness of the crossing."
"Few questions matter more to a child's parents than the safeness of the playground."
"The driver checked the safeness of the route before setting out."
Usually treated as an abstract or mass noun; the plural is rare and is needed only when referring to multiple instances or states of safety.
"The study compared the relative safenesses of several mountain routes."
Safeness is “safety” with an old-fashioned ring: plainer on the tongue, but still perfectly intelligible.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does safeness come from?
Safeness was formed in English by adding the productive suffix “-ness” to the adjective safe. “Safe” descends from Old English sæf, meaning “uninjured” or “free from harm.” Its formation follows the same English pattern seen in related words such as safety, safely, and unsafe.
How safeness is actually used
A relatively uncommon, plain-sounding noun whose usage is most natural in prose concerned with freedom from danger.
Easily confused with safeness
Safety is the common modern noun, while safeness is a rarer literal equivalent that emphasizes the state of being safe rather than the broader domain or practice of protection.