omniscient

adjective

om·​ni·​scient äm-ˈni-shənt 

1

: having infinite awareness, understanding, and insight

an omniscient author

the narrator seems an omniscient person who tells us about the characters and their relations

—Ira Konigsberg

2

: possessed of universal or complete knowledge

the omniscient God

omnisciently adverb

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What is the origin of omniscient?

One who is omniscient literally knows all. The word omniscient traces back to two Latin roots: omni-, meaning "all" or "universally," and the noun scientia, meaning "knowledge." You will recognize omni- as the prefix that tells all in such words as omnivorous ("eating all," or in actual use, "eating both plants and animals") and omnipotent ("all-powerful"). Scientia comes from the Latin verb scīre, meaning "to know," which likewise has a number of other knowledge-related descendants in English, including conscience, science, and prescience (meaning "foreknowledge").

Examples of omniscient in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Because formalism disrupts patriarchal assumptions about the nature of aesthetic experience (namely, that the author possesses omniscient knowledge transferable to the reader), Woolf deploys it to depict the impressions and sensations that characterize the female experience. —Jenny Noyce, JSTOR Daily, 14 May 2025

It’s set in a lighthouse on Lake Superior, where the great inland sea has its own moods and is the apparent dwelling place of an omniscient narrator whose comments begin every chapter. —Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 6 Apr. 2025

What is The Safeguard and is this omniscient AI called The Algorithm reinforcing the rules of the silos? —Jeff Spry, Space.com, 13 Jan. 2025

And to Cumming’s amusement, the cast seems genuinely scared of him at times, treating him as an almost omniscient voice of God on the show. —Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

New Latin omniscient-, omnisciens, back-formation from Medieval Latin omniscientia

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for omniscient

• deficient
• efficient
• proficient
• sufficient
• beneficent
• coefficient
• inefficient
• insufficient

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Kids Definition

omniscient

adjective

om·​ni·​scient äm-ˈnish-ənt 

: knowing everything

omnisciently adverb

Etymology

from modern Latin omniscient-, omnisciens "knowing all things, all-knowing," derived from omni- (from omnis "all") and scient-, sciens "knowing," from scire "to know" — related to science