sense

noun \ ˈsen(t)s \

Updated on: 25 May 2018

Definition of sense

1 : a meaning conveyed or intended : import, signification; especially : one of a set of meanings a word or phrase may bear especially as segregated in a dictionary entry

2 a : the faculty of perceiving by means of sense organs

b : a specialized function or mechanism (such as sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch) by which an animal receives and responds to external or internal stimuli

c : the sensory mechanisms constituting a unit distinct from other functions (such as movement or thought)

3 : conscious awareness or rationality —usually used in plural

finally came to his senses

4 a : a particular sensation or kind or quality of sensation

a good sense of balance

b : a definite but often vague awareness or impression

felt a sense of insecurity

a sense of danger

c : a motivating awareness

a sense of shame

d : a discerning awareness and appreciation

her sense of humor

5 : consensus

the sense of the meeting

6 a : capacity for effective application of the powers of the mind as a basis for action or response : intelligence

b : sound mental capacity and understanding typically marked by shrewdness and practicality; also : agreement with or satisfaction of such power

this decision makes sense

7 : one of two opposite directions especially of motion (as of a point, line, or surface)

See sense defined for English-language learners

See sense defined for kids

Examples of sense in a Sentence

There is an unnerving sense now that technology is driving the culture rather than the reverse. Machines and sites and software are breeding at an exponential clip, and we hapless humans race around trying to adapt. —Steven Johnson, Discover, July 2006
The caricature of neurotic nuns who specialized in corporal punishment and guilt crumbles before the countless examples of women religious who made the difference in determining that a child would eat, or be safe, or have any sense of dignity at all. —Luke Timothy Johnson, Commonweal, 22 Sept. 2006
Because Updike shrinks from giving any real credence to the ideology that drives his plot (in both senses of that word), the book becomes a temporarily enthralling, but ultimately empty shaggy dog story. —Jonathan Raban, New York Review of Books, 13 July 2006
Less distinguished people experience a similar tangling of the senses, some reporting that they can taste the words they speak or see the colors of certain words or numbers. This confounding of perception—called synesthesia—was thought to affect at most about 4 percent of the population, but University College London psychologist Jamie Ward has uncovered the best evidence yet that we may all have a bit of synesthesia. —Kathryn Garfield, Discover, December 2006
All of my senses were on the alert for danger.
We had a sense that something wasn't quite right.
His senses were clear despite his illness.

Recent Examples of sense from the Web

Warren worries that an application process designed for rigid clinical protocols doesn’t make sense for basic research, where the result of one experiment informs the design of the next one.

— jocelyn kaiser, Science | AAAS, "Basic scientists still feel pinch of new NIH clinical trial policy," 4 May 2018
None of the players involved in the Rangers' biggest trade of 2017 are doing much in 2018, and keeping Calhoun in the minors makes perfect sense both from a production, and contractual, standpoint.

— mac engel, star-telegram, "Defending Jon Daniels for a terrible trade," 2 May 2018
According to Louis-Alban Batard-Dupre, executive vice president of Connecthings, creating a smart city solution that works with an existing app makes financial sense while improving the experience for the end user.

— patrick sisson, Curbed, "New transit tech in Austin wants to give blind riders a better bus ride," 1 May 2018
In many ways Dating makes perfect sense for Facebook.

— louise matsakis, WIRED, "Facebook's New 'Dating' Feature Could Crush Apps Like Tinder," 1 May 2018
But people were like, wait a minute, this makes so much sense with the burger.

— bailey loosemore, The Courier-Journal, "Eat like a true Louisvillian: These are the 5 foods all Kentucky Derby visitors must try," 30 Apr. 2018
Picking Gulich makes sense for the Mercury in multiple ways.

— jeff metcalfe, azcentral, "Marie Gulich moves on to WNBA, Mercury with new mentor in Brittney Griner," 29 Apr. 2018
But the plan always came with a big question — its $250 million cost, which critics asserted was far too high to make sense for a project serving an area with some 12,500 people.

— nathaniel herz, Anchorage Daily News, "‘It sounded too good to be true’: Inside the Alaska broadband company whose former CEO is charged with wire fraud," 28 Apr. 2018
By that point, Democrats had concluded that bringing their convention to a state as solidly red as Texas didn’t make strategic sense.

— gilbert garcia, San Antonio Express-News, "S.A. would be unconventional pick for GOP convention," 27 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sense.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of sense

Middle English, from Anglo-French or Latin; Anglo-French sen, sens sensation, feeling, mechanism of perception, meaning, from Latin sensus, from sentire to perceive, feel; perhaps akin to Old High German sinnan to go, strive, Old English sith journey — more at send

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

sense Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of sense

sense, common sense, judgment, wisdom mean ability to reach intelligent conclusions. sense implies a reliable ability to judge and decide with soundness, prudence, and intelligence.

- a choice showing good sense

common sense suggests an average degree of such ability without sophistication or special knowledge.

- common sense tells me it's wrong

judgment implies sense tempered and refined by experience, training, and maturity.

- they relied on her judgment for guidance

wisdom implies sense and judgment far above average.

- a leader of rare wisdom

sense

verb

Definition of sense

sensed; sensing

transitive verb

1 a : to perceive by the senses (see ¹sense 2)

b : to be or become conscious of

sense danger

2 : grasp, comprehend

3 : to detect automatically especially in response to a physical stimulus (such as light or movement)

See sense defined for English-language learners

Examples of sense in a Sentence

The latest feature on air conditioners is a big new plug to help prevent fires. The plug shuts down power when it senses that the air conditioner cord is damaged. —Consumer Reports, July 2005
With very little provocation, magic might have been flying back and forth in an unpleasant and damaging manner. Sensing the danger, Kate stepped between them and raised her hands. "Let us have no more of this. There is a confusion to be cleared up, and I cannot do that in the middle of a brannigan," she said. —John Morressy, Fantasy & Science Fiction, October/November 2004
In Pecnik, he had instantly sensed a kindred spirit. As a boy Pecnik had strapped homemade parachutes to hamsters and tossed them (without harm) from his sixth-story bedroom window; by the time he joined the Croatian national team he was making his own jumpsuits. —William Speed Weed, Popular Science, July 2003
She immediately sensed my dislike.
A motion detector can sense movement.

Recent Examples of sense from the Web

Jorge sensed that, and expanded it upon it playing a lot of the layouts to enhance subtilties of the relationships between characters, setting and time.

— will nevin, OregonLive.com, "WW #100: Writer Eliot Rahal's 'Hot Lunch Special' more 'real' with story of family -- and crime," 15 May 2018
Madden sensed Mahoney meant that contact with survivors was too painful.

— deborah yetter, The Courier-Journal, "Survivors still in agony over school bus crash that horrified a nation," 13 May 2018
David Johnson, Miller’s receivers coach, sensed it well before Miller needed only three seasons to become the school’s all-time leader in catches, yards and receiving touchdowns.

— rich campbell, chicagotribune.com, "Bears rookie receiver Anthony Miller eager to prove himself all over again," 12 May 2018
Like Cobb, Barbish sensed that the story could be worth more than the actual object.

— michael lapointe, The Atlantic, "The Twisted Tale of the World’s Largest Pearl," 11 May 2018
Tiffanee Stokes, a 37-year-old chiropractic assistant from North Philadelphia, sensed that race played a heavy role in the case.

— cassie owens, Philly.com, "What black Philadelphians see in the Cosby verdict," 26 Apr. 2018
Julie, 29, always sensed her ex had severe anger issues.

— marissa miller, Vogue, "So You Might Want to Call Off Your Wedding—Now What?," 8 Apr. 2018
The Smoothie King Center sellout crowd of 18,500 sensed a forthcoming dunk of mammoth proportions.

— ron higgins, NOLA.com, "Stumbling, bumbling, fumbling Pelicans giftwrap Easter Sunday win for the Thunder," 2 Apr. 2018
One day, however, her defibrillator sensed an irregular heartbeat and released a shock — along with a wireless message to Astrea’s doctors.

— New York Times, "Every Cell in Your Body Has the Same DNA. Except It Doesn’t.," 21 May 2018

Origin and Etymology of sense

see ¹sense

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1598

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1b

See Words from the same year

sense Synonyms

Synonyms

appreciate, apprehend, assimilate, behold, catch, catch on (to), cognize, compass, comprehend, conceive, cotton (to or on to), decipher, decode, dig, discern, get, grasp, intuit, know, make, make out, perceive, recognize, register, savvy, see, seize, tumble (to), twig, understand;

Antonyms

miss;

Near Antonyms

misapprehend, misconceive, misconstrue, misinterpret, misperceive, misread, mistake, misunderstand;

Related Words

absorb, digest, take in;

realize;

fathom, penetrate, pierce;

Phrases

pick up on;

SENSE Defined for English Language Learners

sense

noun

Definition of sense for English Language Learners

: one of the five natural powers (touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing) through which you receive information about the world around you
: a physical feeling : something that your body experiences
: a particular feeling : an emotion that you are aware of

sense

verb

Definition of sense for English Language Learners

: to understand or be aware of (something) without being told about it or having evidence that it is true
of a machine : to detect the presence or occurrence of (something)

SENSE Defined for Kids

sense

noun \ ˈsens \

Definition of sense for Students

1 : a specialized function or mechanism (as sight, taste, or touch) of the body that involves the action and effect of a stimulus on a sense organ

2 : awareness arrived at through or as if through the senses

He felt a sense of danger.

3 : a particular sensation or kind of sensation

I lost my sense of balance.

4 : the ability to make wise decisions

5 : an awareness or understanding of something

a sense of humor

a sense of pride

6 : a reason or excuse based on intelligence or good judgment

There is no sense in continuing.

7 : a logical, sensible, or practical thing, act, or way of doing

Saving money for the future makes sense.

8 : a meaning or one of a set of meanings a word, phrase, or story may have

sense

verb

Definition of sense for Students

sensed; sensing

: to be or become aware of

My cat can sense the approach of a storm.

Medical Dictionary

sense

noun \ ˈsen(t)s \

medical Definition of sense

1 a : the faculty of perceiving by means of sense organs

b : a specialized function or mechanism (as sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch) by which an animal receives and responds to external or internal stimuli

c : the sensory mechanisms constituting a unit distinct from other functions (as movement or thought)

2 : a particular sensation or kind or quality of sensation