What does "sensibility" mean?
Emotions or feelings arising from or relating to aesthetic or moral standards, especially those which are sensitive and thus likely to be hurt or offended.
Sensibility
/ˌsɛn(t)sɪˈbɪlɪti/ noun
noun ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Emotions or feelings arising from or relating to aesthetic or moral standards, especially those which are sensitive and thus likely to be hurt or offended.
- Grammar: sensibility is listed as noun.
- Nearest alternatives: sensitivity, acuity, acumen, acuteness.
- Useful contrasts: blindness, coarseness, disregard.
- Usage evidence: I don't know how to draw, nor do I have the sensibility of an artist.
How to use "sensibility"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "sensibility" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "sensibility" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "sensibility" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "sensibility" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "sensibility" is acting as noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "sensitivity" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "sensibility", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Emotions or feelings arising from or relating to aesthetic or moral standards, especially those which are sensitive and thus likely to be hurt or offended. countable, in-plural, often, uncountable
"I apologize if I offended your sensibilities, but that’s the truth of the matter."
- 2 (physiology) responsiveness to external stimuli; the faculty of sensation wordnet
- 3 The ability to feel, perceive, or sense; responsiveness to sensory stimuli; sensitivity; also, the degree to which someone or something (especially a sensory organ or tissue) is able to respond to sensory stimuli. uncountable
"[B]y the ſharpnes therof [i.e., of “fumosity” caused by undigested meat], it prycketh and annoyeth the ſynewes, whiche make ſenſibilitie, the rootes of whome, ar in the brayn, and from thenſe paſſeth through all the body."
- 4 mental responsiveness and awareness wordnet
- 5 The quality of being easily affected by external forces or stimuli; also, of a measuring instrument: the quality of being able to detect small changes in the environment. uncountable
"About an Attempt to examine the Motions and Senſibility of the Carteſian Materia ſubtilis, or the Æther, with a pair of Bellovvs (made of a Bladder) in the exhausted Receiver [chapter name]."
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 refined sensitivity to pleasurable or painful impressions wordnet
- 7 Keen sensitivity to matters of creative expression or feeling; artistic or emotional awareness. uncountable
"Our Lord [Jesus] is ſaied to haue indurated Pharaoes hart, not that he brought the hardnes it ſelfe, but for that his deſertes ſo requiring, he did not mollifie it, vvith ſenſibilitie of fear infuſed from aboue."
- 8 Keen sensitivity to matters of creative expression or feeling; artistic or emotional awareness.; Affected or excessive artistic or emotional awareness; the fact or quality of being overemotional; overemotionality. archaic, countable, specifically, uncountable
"―Dear ſenſibility! ſource inexhauſted of all that's precious in our joys, or coſtly in our ſorrovvs!"
- 9 Awareness; also, understanding. archaic, countable, uncountable
"[M]any vvho mark vvith ſuch accuracy the courſe of time, appear to have little ſenſibility of the decline of life. Every man has ſomething to do vvhich he neglects; every man has faults to conquer vvhich he delays to combat."
- 10 The capacity of something to be perceived by the senses; perceptibility. archaic, countable, uncountable
- 11 Of a plant or one of its parts: the ability to move in response to a stimulus. archaic, countable, uncountable
"The oscillatory and jerking movements of the leaves of Dionæa, which resemble those of the hypocotyl of the cabbage, are highly remarkable, as seen under the microscope. They continue night and day for some months, and are displayed by young unexpanded leaves, and by old ones which have lost their sensibility to a touch, but which, after absorbing animal matter, close their lobes."
- 12 The ability to perceive or sense as opposed to the ability to understand; also, in the philosophy of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804): emotion or feeling as opposed to the will. uncountable
"[S]enſibility is but a ſpecies of the body; but vnderſtanding of the life: and therefore they preferred intellect before ſence: Senſible things are thoſe that are to be ſeen or touched. Intelligible can only be vnderſtood by the minde."
- 13 An emotional sense or understanding of something. countable, obsolete, uncountable
- 14 A sign or token of appreciation or gratitude. countable, obsolete, uncountable
Example
"I don't know how to draw, nor do I have the sensibility of an artist."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "sensibility"?
Common synonyms include: sensitivity, acuity, acumen, acuteness, adaptability, aesthesia.
How do you use "sensibility" in a sentence?
I don't know how to draw, nor do I have the sensibility of an artist.
How do you pronounce "sensibility"?
Pronounced /ˌsɛn(t)sɪˈbɪlɪti/.
Etymology
From Late Middle English sensibilite (“physical ability to sense or perceive; sensitivity to pain; type of perception by a sense organ; perception, understanding; image imprinted on the mind during perception; (philosophy) capacity of the soul to receive information from the senses, perceptibility; (in the plural) the senses”), from Middle French sensibilité and Old French sensibilité (“characteristic or state of being capable of sensation”) (modern French sensibilité), and from their etymon Late Latin sēnsibilitās (“intelligence; perception, sensation; sensitiveness; meaning or sense of words”), from Latin sēnsibilis (“detectable; perceptible, sensible”) (from sentiō (“to perceive with the senses, feel, sense; to be aware or sensible of; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to perceive; to think”)) + -bilis (suffix forming adjectives denoting a capacity or worth of being acted upon)) + -tās (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting states of being). By surface analysis, sensible + -ity (suffix forming nouns). Sense 6 (“in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant: emotion or feeling as opposed to the will”) is a use of the word as a calque of German Sinnlichkeit (“receptivity and devotion to what is experienced by the senses; desire for or openness to eroticism, sensuality”).