Word.ws English Dictionary

sensible

UK/ˈsɛn.sɪ.bəl//ˈsɛn.sə.bəl/

sensible adjective: acting with or showing good sense; able to make good judgements based on reason or wisdom, or reflecting such ability.

Adjective

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

  1. Acting with or showing good sense; able to make good judgements based on reason or wisdom, or reflecting such ability.
    • They ask questions of someone who thinks he's got something sensible to say on some matter when actually he hasn't.2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 230b
    Synonyms:
    reasonable
  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.
    • “Delightful vision! A comfortable armchair, situated in three different draughts, at every ballroom; and nice, large, sensible shoes for all the couples to stumble over as they go into the veranda!”1889, Rudyard Kipling, “The Education of Otis Yeere”, in Under the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published 1899, page 19
  3. (especially, formal) Able to be sensed by the senses or the psyche; able to be perceived.
    • For Plato the belief in sensible objects is fallible.
    • Air is sensible to the Touch by its Motion, and by its Resistance to Bodies moved in it.1751, John Arbuthnot, An Essay Concerning the Effects of Air on Human Bodies, page 1
  4. (archaic) Able to feel or perceive.
    • Would your cambric were sensible as your finger.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]...
  5. (archaic) Liable to external impression; easily affected; sensitive.
    • a sensible thermometer
    • with affection wondrous sensiblec. 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]...
  6. (archaic) Of or pertaining to the senses; sensory.
  7. (archaic) Cognizant; having the perception of something; aware of something.
    • He cannot think at any time, waking or sleeping, without being sensible of it.1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter I, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC
    • 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.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. […]...

Noun

sensible (plural sensibles)

  1. (obsolete) Sensation; sensibility.
    • Our temper changed […] which must needs remove the sensible of pain.1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
  2. (obsolete) That which impresses itself on the senses; anything perceptible.
    • Aristotle distinguished sensibles into common and proper.1857, William Fleming, Vocabulary of Philosophy
    • 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.2018, Richard F. Hassing, Final Causality in Nature and Human Affairs (page 4)
  3. (obsolete) That which has sensibility; a sensitive being.
    • This melancholy extends itself not to men only, but even to vegetals and sensibles.1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC

sensible meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

sensible in Hindi

समझदार

sensible in Tamil

செயல் முறைக்கு ஒத்த, செய்முறைக்கேற்ற, நடைமுறைக்கொத்த, நல்லறிவுடைய, நியாயமான, நேர்மையான

sensible in Urdu

عاقل, عقلمند, سمجھدار

sensible in Bengali

বিচক্ষণ, যুক্তিসংগত, সংবেদনশীল
More languagesFewer languages
sensible in Telugu
బుద్ధిగల buddhigala
sensible in Malayalam
വിവേകമുള്ള, ഇന്ദ്രിയഗോചരമായ, സൂക്ഷ്മവേദിയായ, പ്രത്യക്ഷമായ
sensible in Kannada
ಪ್ರಜ್ಞಾವಂತ, ವಿವೇಕದಿಂದ ಕೂಡಿದ, ಉತ್ತಮ ಅರಿವಿನ, ವ್ಯವಹಾರಪ್ರಜ್ಞೆಯಿರುವ
sensible in Punjabi
ਸਮਝਦਾਰ
sensible in Gujarati
સમજદારીભર્યું, સમજદારીભર્યા
sensible in Sanskrit
कवि kavi
sensible in Nepali
समझदारीपूर्ण
sensible in Thai
สัมผัสได้

Examples of sensible in a sentence

  • It has been vouchsafed, for example, to very few Christian believers to have had a sensible vision of their Saviour.1902, William James, “Lecture III: The Reality of the Unseen”, in The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] , New...
  • [T]he diſgrace was more ſensible than the pain.1690, William Temple, Miscellanea. The Second Part. […], London: […] T. M. for Ri[chard] and Ra[lph] Simpson, […], →OCLC, section III, page...
  • The discovery of the mines of America […] does not seem to have had any very sensible effect upon the prices of things in England.1776 March 9, Adam Smith, chapter 11, in An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. […], volume I, London: […]...
  • we are now sensible that it would have been absurd1810, Thomas Green, Extracts from the diary of a lover of literature:

All 40 example sentences with sensible

Synonyms of sensible

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of sensible

Forms of sensible

Adjective
comparativemore sensible
superlativemost sensible
superlative (archaic, rare)sensiblest
Noun
pluralsensibles

Origin of sensible

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

Words formed from sensible

Questions about sensible

What does sensible mean?
Sensible means acting with or showing good sense; able to make good judgements based on reason or wisdom, or reflecting such ability.
What is sensible in Hindi?
Sensible in Hindi is समझदार. See Sensible meaning in Hindi.
How do you use sensible in a sentence?
It has been vouchsafed, for example, to very few Christian believers to have had a sensible vision of their Saviour.
What part of speech is sensible?
Sensible can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce sensible?
Sensible is pronounced /ˈsɛn.sɪ.bəl/ (UK).

Words near sensible in the dictionary

  1. sensibilized
  2. sensibilizer
  3. sensibilizers
  4. sensibilizes
  5. sensibilizing
  6. sensible
  7. sensibleness
  8. sensibles
  9. sensiblest
  10. sensibly
  11. sensical

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sensible (page history and authors); sensible (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sensible (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sensible (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sensible (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); బుద్ధిగల (Telugu) (page history and authors); sensible (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sensible (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sensible (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sensible (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); sensible (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-sensible.ogg.

Cite this entry: “sensible.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sensible. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.