unevenness

Everyday

1. Unevenness is the state of not being flat, smooth or level, like bumps on a road. tree →
2. Unevenness is also the state of not being equal or regular, like uneven sharing or uneven quality. tree →

In the lessons

In science and DT: the unevenness of a surface affects friction and how things roll. In maths and fairness talk: unevenness in groups or shares. In everyday talk: unevenness in someone's work means it is good in parts and weak in parts.

Examples

• The unevenness of the path made me trip. tree →
• We sanded the wood to remove the unevenness. tree →
• The teacher noticed the unevenness of the teams. tree →
• The unevenness of the pavement is dangerous for prams. tree →
• There was some unevenness in her handwriting. tree →
• Unevenness in the floor made the marble roll to one corner. tree →

Note

Uncountable. From «uneven» + «-ness»; note «nn». In maths, an uneven number usually means an odd number, but «unevenness» is not used about odd numbers.