Standard Lemma guide

viscosity

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /vɪsˈkɑsɪti/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /vɪsˈkɒsɪti/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɒsɪti
  • CMU ARPABET: V IH0 S K AA1 S AH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The state of being viscous.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • Near-synonym: thickness

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: viscousness, thickness

Antonyms: runniness, wateriness, thinness

2

noun

Meaning 2

A quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid, as measured by the force per unit area resisting uniform flow.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Topics: natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A tendency to prolong interpersonal encounters.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, psychology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

resistance of a liquid to shear forces (and hence to flow)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: viscousness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: consistency, consistence, eubstance, body

Narrower terms: stickiness, sliminess, cohesiveness, glueyness, gluiness, gumminess, tackiness, ropiness, viscidity, viscidness, gelatinousness, glutinosity, glutinousness

History

Etymology

From Middle French viscosité, from Old French viscosité, from Medieval Latin viscositas; analysable as viscous + -ity.

Across languages

Translations

68 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: viskositeit — state of being viscous
  • Arabic: لُزُوجَة (luzūja) — state of being viscous
  • Bulgarian: вискозност (viskoznost) — state of being viscous
  • Catalan: viscositat — state of being viscous
  • Chinese Mandarin: 粘性 (niánxìng) — state of being viscous
  • Chinese Mandarin: 粘度 (niándù) — state of being viscous
  • Dutch: viscositeit — state of being viscous
  • Finnish: viskoosisuus — state of being viscous
  • Finnish: sitkaus — state of being viscous
  • French: viscosité — state of being viscous
  • Galician: viscosidade — state of being viscous
  • Georgian: სიბლანტე (siblanṭe) — state of being viscous
  • Georgian: მწებვარობა (mc̣ebvaroba) — state of being viscous
  • German: Zähflüssigkeit — state of being viscous
  • German: Viskosität — state of being viscous
  • Greek: ιξώδες (ixódes) — state of being viscous
  • Hindi: श्यानता (śyāntā) — state of being viscous
  • Ido: viskozeso — state of being viscous
  • Irish: bealaitheacht — state of being viscous
  • Irish: glóthaí — state of being viscous
  • Irish: righneacht — state of being viscous
  • Irish: slaodacht — state of being viscous
  • Italian: viscosità — state of being viscous
  • Japanese: 粘性 (nensei) — state of being viscous
  • Japanese: 粘度 (nendo) — state of being viscous
  • Malay: kelikatan — state of being viscous
  • Persian: لزوجت (lozujat) — state of being viscous
  • Polish: lepkość — state of being viscous
  • Portuguese: viscosidade — state of being viscous
  • Russian: вя́зкость (vjázkostʹ) — state of being viscous
  • Slovene: viskóznost — state of being viscous
  • Spanish: viscosidad — state of being viscous
  • Thai: ความหนืด (kwaam-nʉ̀ʉt) — state of being viscous
  • Ukrainian: в'я́зкість (vʺjázkistʹ) — state of being viscous
  • Vietnamese: (tính) nhớt — state of being viscous
  • Vietnamese: (tính) sền sệt — state of being viscous
  • Vietnamese: (tính) lầy nhầy — state of being viscous
  • Afrikaans: viskositeit — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Arabic: لُزُوجَة (luzūja) — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Bengali: সান্দ্রতা (śandrota) — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Bulgarian: вискозитет (viskozitet) — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Chinese Mandarin: 粘性 (niánxìng) — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Dutch: viscositeit — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Finnish: viskositeetti — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Finnish: sitkaus — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • French: viscosité — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Georgian: სიბლანტე (siblanṭe) — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Georgian: მწებვარობა (mc̣ebvaroba) — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • German: Viskosität — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Greek: ιξώδες (ixódes) — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Hindi: श्यानता (śyāntā) — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Hungarian: viszkozitás — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Irish: righneas — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Irish: slaodacht — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Japanese: 粘度 (nendo) — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Malay: kelikatan — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Norwegian Bokmål: viskositet — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Polish: lepkość — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Polish: wiskoza — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Portuguese: viscosidade — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Russian: вя́зкость (vjázkostʹ) — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Slovene: viskóznost — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Swedish: viskositet — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Tagalog: lapuyot — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Telugu: స్నిగ్ధత (snigdhata) — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Thai: ความหนืด (kwaam-nʉ̀ʉt) — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Ukrainian: в'я́зкість (vʺjázkistʹ) — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
  • Vietnamese: độ nhớt — physics: quantity expressing the magnitude of internal friction in a fluid
Real reading context

viscosity in complete knowledge articles