sensible

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɛns.ɪ.bəl/, [ˈsɛn̥sɪbl̩]
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsɛns.ə.bəl/, [ˈsɛn̥səbɫ̩]
    • Audio (US)(file)

Adjective

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, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 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 […] ‎, London: Folio Society, published 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.
  5. (archaic) Liable to external impression; easily affected; sensitive.
    a sensible thermometer
  6. (archaic) Of or pertaining to the senses; sensory.
  7. (archaic) Cognizant; having the perception of something; aware of something.
    • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter I, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC:
      He cannot think at any time, waking or sleeping, without being sensible of it.
    • 1723, Cotton Mather, “Agathangelus; or, The Servant of God with His Guardian”, in Cœlestinus. A Conversation in Heaven, Quickened and Assisted, with Discoveries of Things in the Heavenly World. […], Boston, Mass.: […] S[amuel] Kneeland, for Nath[aniel] Belknap, […], →OCLC, page 2:
      A bright Meſſenger from Heaven, made the Man of GOD ſenſible, That a Remarkable Safety ſhould be granted unto him, and therefore unto all the Company vvith Him.
    • 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 vvere for his preſent leaving me; on vvhich, tho' reluctantly, he put on his cloaths vvith as little expedition, hovvever, as he could help, vvantonly interrupting himſelf betvveen vvhiles, vvith kiſſes, touches, and embraces, I could not refuſe myſelf to; […]
    • 1810, Thomas Green, Extracts from the diary of a lover of literature:
      we are now sensible that it would have been absurd

Usage notes
  • "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.

Translations

Noun

sensible (plural sensibles)

  1. (obsolete) Sensation; sensibility.
  2. (obsolete) That which impresses itself on the senses; anything perceptible.
    • 1857, William Fleming, Vocabulary of Philosophy:
      Aristotle distinguished sensibles into common and proper.
    • 2018, Richard F. Hassing, Final Causality in Nature and Human Affairs (page 4)
      Accordingly, with respect to their knowability or opinability, Socrates makes no distinction among the sensibles between natural things and artifacts (510a5–6); both are relegated to the realm of opinion. Hence, there is no Socratic-Platonic biology.
  3. (obsolete) That which has sensibility; a sensitive being.
    • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:
      This melancholy extends itself not to men only, but even to vegetals and sensibles.

Further reading

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sēnsibilis. First attested in the 14th century.[1]

Pronunciation

Adjective

sensible m or f (masculine and feminine plural sensibles)

  1. sentient
  2. sensitive

Derived terms

References
  1. “sensible”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024

Further reading

French

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /sɑ̃.sibl/
  • Audio(file)

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin sēnsibilis.

Adjective

sensible (plural sensibles)

  1. sensitive
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Ellipsis of note sensible.

Noun

sensible f (plural sensibles)

  1. (music) leading tone

Further reading

German

Pronunciation
  • Audio(file)

Adjective

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

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sēnsibilis.

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

Adjective

sensible m or f (masculine and feminine plural sensibles)

  1. sensitive
  2. sentient
  3. responsive

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

Antonyms

Derived terms

Further reading
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