Sensible meaning of word

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin sēnsibilis (“perceptible by the senses, having feeling, sensible”), from sentiō (“to feel, perceive”).

Pronunciation[edit]

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛn.sɪ.bəl/, [ˈsɛn.sɪ.bl̩]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛn.sə.bəl/, [ˈsɛn.sə.bl̩]

Adjective[edit]

sensible (comparative more sensible, superlative most sensible or sensiblest)

1. Acting with or showing good sense; able to make good judgements based on reason, or reflecting such ability.
   • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 230b.

     They ask questions of someone who thinks he’s got something sensible to say on some matter when actually he hasn’t.

   Synonym: reasonable

   Coordinate terms: prudent, wise, appropriate

2. Characterized more by usefulness, practicality, or comfort than by attractiveness, formality, or fashionableness, especially of clothing.

   I only wear high heels on formal occasions; otherwise, I prefer sensible shoes.

   • 1985, «Weird Al» Yankovic (lyrics and music), “Dare to Be Stupid”, in Dare to Be Stupid, performed by «Weird Al» Yankovic:

     Settle down, raise a family, join the PTA
     Buy some sensible shoes and a Chevrolet

   • 1999, Neil Gaiman, Stardust (2001 Perennial Edition), page 8,

     They would walk, on fair evenings, around the village, and discuss the theory of crop rotation, and the weather, and other such sensible matters.

3. (especially formally) Able to be sensed by the senses or the psyche; able to be perceived.
   • 1751, John Arbuthnot, An Essay Concerning the Effects of Air on Human Bodies (page 1)

     Air is sensible to the Touch by its Motion, and by its Resistance to Bodies moved in it.

   • 1778, William Lewis, The New Dispensatory (page 91)

     The sensible qualities of argentina promise no great virtue of this kind; for to the taste it discovers only a slight roughishness, from whence it may be presumed to be entitled to a place only among the milder corroborants.

   • 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Folio Society 2008, page 45:

     It has been vouchsafed, for example, to very few Christian believers to have had a sensible vision of their Saviour.

   • 1690, William Temple, “Of Heroick Virtue”, in Miscellanea. The Second Part. […], 2nd edition, London: […] J. R. for Ri[chard] and Ra[lph] Simpson, […], →OCLC, section III, page 207:

     [T]he diſgrace was more ſensible than the pain.

   • 1776 March 9, Adam Smith, chapter 11, in An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. […], volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, book I (Of the Causes of Improvement in the Productive Powers of Labour, […]), page 241:

     The discovery of the mines of America […] does not seem to have had any very sensible effect upon the prices of things in England.

   Synonyms: perceptible, appreciable, detectable

   Antonyms: insensible, imperceptible, unappreciable, undetectable

4. (archaic) Able to feel or perceive.

   • c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

     Would your cambric were sensible as your finger.

5. (archaic) Liable to external impression; easily affected; sensitive.

   a sensible thermometer

   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene viii]:

     with affection wondrous sensible

6. (archaic) Of or pertaining to the senses; sensory.
7. (archaic) Cognizant; having the perception of something; aware of something.
   • , Book II, Chapter I

     He cannot think at any time, waking or sleeping, without being sensible of it.

   • 1810, Thomas Green, Extracts from the diary of a lover of literature

     we are now sensible that it would have been absurd

   • 1749, [John Cleland], “[Letter the First]”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], volume I, London: […] G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC, pages 213–214:

     Diſingaging myſelf then from his embrace, I made him ſenſible of the reaſons there were for his preſent leaving me; on which, tho’ reluctantly, he put on his cloaths with as little expedition, however, as he could help, wantonly interrupting himſelf between whiles, with kiſſes, touches, and embraces, I could not refuſe myſelf to; […]

Usage notes[edit]

• «Sensible» describes the reasonable way in which a person may think about things or do things:

  It wouldn’t be sensible to start all over again now.

It is not comparable to its cognates in certain languages (see below at Translations section).

• «Sensitive» describes an emotional way in which a person may react to things:

  He has always been a sensitive child.

  I didn’t realize she was so sensitive about her work.

[edit]

• sense
• sensory
• sensual
• sensuous
• supersensible

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

sensible (plural sensibles)

1. (obsolete) Sensation; sensibility.
2. (obsolete) That which impresses itself on the senses; anything perceptible.
   • 1857, William Fleming, Vocabulary of Philosophyyy

     Aristotle distinguished sensibles into common and proper.

3. (obsolete) That which has sensibility; a sensitive being.

   • This melancholy extends itself not to men only, but even to vegetals and sensibles.

Further reading[edit]

• sensible in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• “sensible”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• sensible at OneLook Dictionary Search

Catalan[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin sēnsibilis, attested from the 14th century.^[1]

Pronunciation[edit]

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /sənˈsi.blə/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /senˈsi.ble/

Adjective[edit]

sensible (masculine and feminine plural sensibles)

1. sentient
2. sensitive

Derived terms[edit]

• sensiblement

[edit]

• insensible
• sensibilitat
• sentir

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• “sensible” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “sensible” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “sensible” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /sɑ̃.sibl/

Etymology 1[edit]

Borrowed from Latin sēnsibilis.

Adjective[edit]

sensible (plural sensibles)

1. sensitive

Derived terms[edit]

• sensibilité
• sensiblement

[edit]

• sentir

Etymology 2[edit]

Ellipsis of note sensible.

Noun[edit]

sensible f (plural sensibles)

1. (music) leading tone

Further reading[edit]

• “sensible”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

German[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

sensible

1. inflection of sensibel:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Spanish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin sēnsibilis.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /senˈsible/ [sẽnˈsi.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -ible
• Syllabification: sen‧si‧ble

Adjective[edit]

sensible (plural sensibles)

1. sensitive
2. sentient
3. responsive

Usage notes[edit]

• Sensible is a false friend, and does not mean reasonable in Spanish. The Spanish word for that English meaning of sensible is sensato.

Antonyms[edit]

• insensible

[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• “sensible”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

What do we mean by sensible?

Acting with or exhibiting good judgment; reasonable. adjective

Not ornate or impractical. adjective

Having a perception of something; cognizant: synonym: aware. adjective

Perceptible or appreciable by the senses or by the mind. adjective

In music, same as sensible note. See leading tone. noun

Capable of affecting the senses; perceptible through the bodily organs.

Perceptible to the mind through observation and reflection; appreciable.

Capable of sensation; having the capacity of receiving impressions from external objects; endowed with sense or sense-organs; sensitive: as, the eye is sensible to light.

Appreciative; amenable (to); influenced or capable of being influenced (by).

Very liable to impression from without; easily affected; highly sensitive.

Perceiving or having perception either by the senses or by the intellect; aware; cognizant; persuaded: conscious: generally with of.

Capable of responding to very slight changes of condition; sensitive (in this sense the better word): as, a sensible thermometer or balance.

Possessing or characterized by sense, judgment, or reason; endowed with or characterized by good or common sense; intelligent; reasonable; judicious: as, a sensible man; a sensible proposal.

Synonyms and Sensible, Perceptibl. Literally, these words are of about the same meaning and strength, the difference depending chiefly upon the connection; for example, a sensible difference, a perceptible difference.

3 and Be Sensible, Be Conscious, etc. See feel.

3 and Sensible, Sensitive, Sentient. Sensible in its first meaning was passive, but is now quite as often active. As active, it is both physical and mental, and is unemphatic: as, to be sensible (that is, aware) of heat or cold, of neglect or injury. Sensitive means feeling acutely, either in body or in mind. A sensible man will school himself not to be too sensitive to criticism. Sentient is a physiologically descriptive word, indicating the possession or use of the sense of feeling: as, the fly is a sentient being.

6. Observant, aware, conscious.

8. Sensible, Judicious, discreet, sage, sagacious, sound. As compared with judicious, sensible means possessing common sense, having a sound and practical reason, while judicious means discreet in choosing what to do or advise; the one applying to the nnderstanding and judgment, the other to the judgment in its relation to the will. Sensible, Intelligent, Common-sense. As compared with intelligent, sensible means possessed of the power to see things in their true light, the light of a correct judgment, a large, sound, roundabout sense, while intelligent means possessed of a clear and quick understanding, so as to apprehend an idea promptly and see it in its true relations. The relation between cause and effect is here so close that intelligent often seems to mean essentially the same as well-informed. Where the sense implied in sensible is thought of as peculiarly general or level to the experience, conclusions, or notions of the mass of men, common-sense is, by a new usage, sometimes employed: as, he was a common-sense person: he took a common-sense view of the matter. All these words apply both to the person and to his opinions, words, writings, etc.

Sensation; sensibility. noun

Sensation; sensibility.

That which impresses itself on the senses; anything perceptible.

That which has sensibility; a sensitive being.

The opposite of karate chopping and kicking cheese at 3am Urban Dictionary

Under achieving badger Urban Dictionary

People who always behave sensibly and in a dignified manner, without ompses (see ompse) Urban Dictionary

To do something that makes sens Urban Dictionary

One’s own ability to react/respond to the artistic style of another. Urban Dictionary

Caveat. See it? Right there. That’s what he does. «Sensible» 👈 That is what a caveat looks like.
Hym «Look at the qualitative adjective usage of the word ‘sensible’ to create a quasi-(if not true) No True Scotsman fallacy. That’s you trying to fit everything into your little ‘Competence’ box. ‘Competence’ is YOUR highest value and you are just projecting that onto women. I am good and good people value competence above all else. Women are good (unilaterally somehow 🤔) and, therefore, must also value competence above all else. Urban Dictionary

1) A leftist simp with an ironic name.
2) A Democratic mouthpiece who often spins any negative situations to favor the left a la Jennifer Psaki. Urban Dictionary

The best weblog in the world, The Shiggity Shit, 5 time winner of the NZ net awards, a methaphor for big dicks, what kleenex made tissues for Urban Dictionary

When a site has become unreachable because of too much traffic/excess of bandwidth. Coined at Sensibleerection.com. Related: Farked, Slashdotted. Urban Dictionary

When you’re sensible, even though you don’t want to be. Urban Dictionary

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