Crossword Genius

Loudness of a little number is in character (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

noisiness

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'loudness' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both human attributes as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?

'a little number is in character' is the wordplay.
'a little number' becomes 'no' (abbreviated form of 'number').
'character' becomes 'ess' (the letter S).
'no'+'is'+'in'+'ess'='NOISINESS'

'of' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for noisiness that I've seen before include "The racket" , "Decibel reading" , "conspicuous quality" , "Clamour" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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