sensible
Pluralsensibles
- 1Showing good judgment and making smart, careful choices.
It was sensible to bring an umbrella when the sky looked dark.
She made a sensible plan and saved part of her money every week.
Similarreasonable
Oppositefoolish, unwise, silly, irresponsible
Note
- 2Comfortable and useful, not fancy or stylish. Often used about clothes and shoes.
She wore sensible shoes for the long walk around the city.
Pack sensible clothes for the camping trip, not your party outfit.
Similarpractical, comfortable, functional, sturdy, serviceable
Oppositeimpractical, flashy, frivolous, fashionable
Note
- 3Able to be noticed with the senses, like something you can see, hear, or feel.
There was a sensible drop in temperature after the sun went down.
The new pills made a sensible difference in how much pain she felt.
Similarperceptible, detectable, appreciable
Oppositeimperceptible, undetectable, insensible, unappreciable
Note
- 4Aware of something, or knowing that it is happening.
She was sensible of the danger and kept her voice low.
we are now sensible that it would have been absurd
1810, Thomas Green, Extracts from the diary of a lover of literatureHere, sensible means aware, so we now realize something.Note
- 5Able to feel things or notice them with the senses.
After the accident, his fingers were numb and no longer sensible.
Would your cambric were sensible as your finger.
c. 1608, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”Here, sensible means able to feel, like a finger can.Note
- 6Easily affected by things around it, like light, touch, or unkind words.
Her eyes were sensible to bright light and watered quickly.
with affection wondrous sensible
c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”Here, sensible means easily moved or affected, showing strong feeling.Note
- 7Connected with the senses, like seeing, hearing, and touching.
The garden offered many sensible pleasures: bright colors, sweet smells, and soft moss underfoot.
Taste and smell are sensible powers that grow weaker as people age.
Note
- 8Something you can notice with your senses, like a sound or a color.
A smell is a sensible that only the nose can catch.
Aristotle distinguished sensibles into common and proper.
1857, William Fleming, Vocabulary of PhilosophyHere, sensibles means things you can see, hear, touch, or sense.Note
- 9A living thing that can feel, unlike a plant or a stone.
Every sensible, from the smallest worm to the largest whale, tries to keep away from pain.
This melancholy extends itself not to men only, but even to vegetals and sensibles.
1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of MelancholyHere, sensibles means living things able to feel, like animals.Note
- 10The power to feel things, or the feeling itself.
The deep cold took away all sensible from his hands.
Long sadness had weakened her sensible, and music no longer moved her.
Note
Showing meanings only.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of sensible apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
From Latin sēnsibilis, meaning able to be felt or perceived by the senses. It comes from sentiō, meaning to feel or perceive.