Discernment

noun

noun ·3 syllables ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The ability to distinguish; judgement. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    the trait of judging wisely and objectively wordnet
  3. 3
    The act of distinguishing between things. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    the mental ability to understand and discriminate between relations wordnet
  5. 5
    The ability to distinguish between things. countable, uncountable
Show 9 more definitions
  1. 6
    perception of that which is obscure wordnet
  2. 7
    The ability to perceive differences that exist. countable, uncountable
  3. 8
    delicate discrimination (especially of esthetic values) wordnet
  4. 9
    The condition of understanding. countable, uncountable
  5. 10
    the cognitive condition of someone who understands wordnet
  6. 11
    Aesthetic discrimination; taste, appreciation. countable, uncountable
  7. 12
    Perceptiveness. countable, uncountable
  8. 13
    The ability to make wise judgements; sagacity. countable, uncountable
  9. 14
    Discretion in judging objectively. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
sagacityknowledgeacuityacumenacutenessapperception

Example

More examples

"We should not fret for what is past, nor should we be anxious about the future; men of discernment deal only with the present moment."

Etymology

From Middle French discernement, equivalent to discern + -ment.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.