omniscient

adjective

om·​ni·​scient äm-ˈni-shənt 

1

: having infinite awareness, understanding, and insight

a novel with an omniscient narrator [=a narrator who knows what all the characters are doing and thinking]

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 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

Second, could de-extinction technologies be misunderstood or have unforeseen consequences for (less than omniscient) human beings? —JSTOR Daily, 13 Nov. 2025

The more omniscient force, as personified in Campbell, shows up to offer her a way out with her life: $275,000, a flight to Cancun, and a chance to disappear. —Andy Andersen, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2025

The show is told through the lens of future Ted, played off-screen by Bob Saget, who serves as the omniscient narrator of the series. —Daysia Tolentino, Entertainment Weekly, 13 Sep. 2025

All the more unusually, the story is told not only through onscreen drama but literally: a voice-over by an unnamed omniscient narrator (played by Jacek Zubiel) sketches motives and memories, backstory and incidental details, and even forthcoming events. —Richard Brody, New Yorker, 4 Sep. 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