Definitions for importance
ɪmˈpɔr tnsim·por·tance

Princeton's WordNet(4.00 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. importancenoun

   the quality of being important and worthy of note

   "the importance of a well-balanced diet"

2. importance, grandnessnoun

   a prominent status

   "a person of importance"

Wiktionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. importancenoun

   The quality or condition of being important or worthy of note

2. importancenoun

   significance or prominence

3. importancenoun

   personal status or standing

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Importancenoun

   Etymology: French.

   1. Thing imported or implied.

   A notable passion of wonder appeared in them; but the wisest beholder, that knew no more but seeing, could not say if the importance were joy or sorrow. William Shakespeare, Winter's Tale.

   2. Matter; subject.

   It had been pity you should have been put together with so mortal a purpose, as then each bore, upon importance of so slight a nature. William Shakespeare, Cymbeline.

   3. Consequence; moment.

   We consider
   Th' importance of Cyprus to the Turks. William Shakespeare, Othello.

   Thy own importance know,
   Nor bound thy narrow views to things below. Alexander Pope.

   4. Importunity. An improper use peculiar to William Shakespeare.

   Maria writ
   The letter at sir Toby's great importance;
   In recompence whereof he hath married her. William Shakespeare.

Wikipedia(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Importance

   Importance is a property of entities that matter or make a difference. For example, World War II was an important event and Albert Einstein was an important person because of how they affected the world. There are disagreements in the academic literature about what type of difference is required. According to the causal impact view, something is important if it has a big causal impact on the world. This view is rejected by various theorists, who insist that an additional aspect is required: that the impact in question makes a value difference. This is often understood in terms of how the important thing affects the well-being of people. So on this view, World War II was important, not just because it brought about many wide-ranging changes but because these changes had severe negative impacts on the well-being of the people involved. The difference in question is usually understood counterfactually as the contrast between how the world actually is and how the world would have been without the existence of the important entity. It is often argued that importance claims are context- or domain-dependent. This means that they either explicitly or implicitly assume a certain domain in relation to which something matters. For example, studying for an exam is important in the context of academic success but not in the context of world history. Importance comes in degrees: to be important usually means to matter more within the domain in question than most of the other entities within this domain. The term "importance" is often used in overlapping ways with various related terms, such as "meaningfulness", "value", and "caring". Theorists frequently try to elucidate these terms by comparing them to show what they have in common and how they differ. A meaningful life is usually also important in some sense. But meaningfulness has additional requirements: the life should be guided by the agent's intention and directed at realizing some form of higher purpose. In some contexts, to say that something is important means the same as saying that it is valuable. More generally, however, importance refers not to value itself but to a value difference. This difference may also be negative: some events are important because they have very bad consequences. Importance is often treated as an objective feature in contrast to the subjective attitude of caring about something or ascribing importance to it. Ideally, the two overlap: people subjectively care about things that are objectively important. Nonetheless, the two may come apart when people care about unimportant things or fail to care about important things. Some theorists distinguish between instrumental importance relative to a specific goal in contrast to a form of importance based on intrinsic or final value. A closely related distinction is between importance relative to someone and absolute or unrestricted importance. The concept of importance is central to numerous fields and issues. Many people desire to be important or to lead an important life. It has been argued that this is not always a good goal since it can also be realized in a negative way: by causing a lot of harm and thereby making an important but negative value difference. Common desires that are closely related include wanting power, wealth, and fame. In the realm of ethics, the importance of something often determines how one should act towards this thing, for example, by paying attention to it or by protecting it. In this regard, importance is a normative property, meaning that importance claims constitute reasons for actions, emotions, and other attitudes. On a psychological level, considerations of the relative importance of the aspects of a situation help the individual simplify its complexity by only focusing on its most significant features. A central discussion in the context of the meaning of life concerns the question of whether human life is important on the cosmic level. Nihilists and absurdists usually give a negative response to this question. This pessimistic outlook can in some cases cause an existential crisis. In the field of artificial intelligence, implementing artificial reasoning to assess the importance of information poses a significant challenge when trying to deal with the complexity of real-world situations.

Webster Dictionary(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Importancenoun

   the quality or state of being important; consequence; weight; moment; significance

2. Importancenoun

   subject; matter

3. Importancenoun

   import; meaning; significance

4. Importancenoun

   importunity; solicitation

5. Etymology: [F. importance. See Important.]

Matched Categories

1. • Standing
   • Value

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'importance' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1005

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'importance' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2398

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'importance' in Nouns Frequency: #464

How to pronounce importance?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say importance in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of importance in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of importance in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of importance in a Sentence

1. Angela Merkel:

   It ... goes without saying that we stress to Turkey, for example, the importance of freedom of the press (and) the freedom of the Kurds, as important as the necessary fight against the PKK's terror is, (Turkey must take a measured) approach ... for all Kurds.

2. Diana Becton:

   We must address the root and byproduct of systemic racism in our country. The Black Lives Matter movement is an important civil rights cause that deserves all of our attention, the mural completed last weekend was a peaceful and powerful way to communicate the importance of Black lives in Contra Costa County and the country.

3. Martha Karoyli:

   I feel this happened because the system is broken, we developed a system in Romania that was very successfully continued for a number of years but I don't know if it was because of some conflict in the organization or whether there was government interference ... but somehow they have forgotten the importance of raising gymnasts to be ready for every Olympics.

4. Demi Lovato:

   Some people like to keep it private, and that’s totally their choice. But, for me, I see the importance of sharing my story and speaking out.

5. Olivier Blanchard:

   From what I read ... the Fed has more or less the same interpretation of the implications of the events in Greece and China as we do, which is that they are not of major importance for the U.S. at this point, so it should not affect their choices in terms of monetary policy very much.

Popularity rank by frequency of use