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

Did you know?

What is the origin of omniscient?

One who is omniscient literally knows all. The word omniscient combines two Latin roots: omni-, meaning "all" or "universally," and the verb scire, meaning "to know." 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"). Scire 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

Invariably, when the misconduct is laid bare, the desire to feel omniscient in a relationship, or exercise godlike power over a complete stranger, tops the list of determinants IDed by investigators. —WIRED, 24 Oct. 2023

The subtle omniscient croonage of David Attenborough simultaneously comforts me and plugs me deep into the ground like nothing else. —Los Angeles Times Staff, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2023

Advertisement Abandoning a central hero allows the streets to speak for themselves, with the powerful voice of an omniscient boy of Dean Street serving as interlocutor and guide. —Lauren Leblanc, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2023

As Meggie Yu, our seemingly omniscient guide from InsideAsia Tours, explained, these buildings were themselves slated for demolition to make way for a neighborhood park until the city, recognizing their historical value, changed course and established Donuimun in 2017. —Jesse Ashlock, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Aug. 2023

Jameela Jamil plays the omniscient narrator in the film, providing additional insight into the characters and situation at hand, though there is no outside narrator in the novel. —Maggie Horton, Country Living, 8 Sep. 2023

There Will Also Be a Bridgerton Season Four In April 2021, Shondaland, Shonda Rhimes’s production company, shared an announcement via X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter, under the auspices of the show’s omniscient narrator and gossip columnist Lady Whistledown. —Rachel Silva, ELLE Decor, 24 Aug. 2023

And because movies offer a visual immediacy and narrative immersion that books don’t, they are expected to be sweeping if not omniscient in their narrative scope, to reach for a comprehensive, even definitive vantage. —Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2023

Neither was an omniscient observer of the mind or actions of the other. —Roy Thomas, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 June 2023

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Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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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