sentience

noun

sen·​tience ˈsen(t)-sh(ē-)ən(t)s How to pronounce sentience (audio)
ˈsen-tē-ən(t)s
1
: a sentient quality or state
2
: feeling or sensation as distinguished from perception and thought

Examples of sentience in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First, do not allow this possibility to spur you to assume that AI must be sentient and would react based on a sense of sentience. Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2025 Critically, the goal isn’t to develop these models into viable fetuses, ultimately capable of human sentience, but to develop a useful research tool that unlocks the mysteries of how a human cell divides and reproduces to become a human body. Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 30 July 2025 Or paper lanterns with faces, ancient mirrors that gain sentience. Katherine Larson july 16, Literary Hub, 16 July 2025 Even the prospect of AI sentience and bots capable of overpowering their flesh-and-bone creators cannot halt our penchant for relentlessly leveraging tech to achieve advancement in one area or another. Saro McKenna, Forbes.com, 20 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for sentience

Word History

First Known Use

1839, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of sentience was in 1839

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Cite this Entry

“Sentience.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sentience. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.

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