sensibility

noun

sen·​si·​bil·​i·​ty ˌsen(t)-sə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

plural sensibilities

1

: ability to receive sensations : sensitiveness

tactile sensibility

2

: peculiar susceptibility to a pleasurable or painful impression (as from praise or a slight)

—often used in plural

3

: awareness of and responsiveness toward something (such as emotion in another)

4

: refined or excessive sensitiveness in emotion and taste with especial responsiveness to the pathetic

Did you know?

The meanings of sensibility run the gamut from mere sensation to excessive sentimentality. In between is a capacity for delicate appreciation, a sense often pluralized. In Jane Austen's books, sensibility is mostly an admirable quality she attributes to, or finds lacking in, her characters: "He had ... a sensibility to what was amiable and lovely" (of Mr. Elliot in Persuasion). In Sense and Sensibility, however, Austen starts out by ascribing to Marianne sensibleness, on the one hand, but an "excess of sensibility" on the other: "Her sorrows, her joys, could have no moderation ... she was everything but prudent."

Synonyms

• feeling
• passions
• mood

Examples of sensibility in a Sentence

The writer is remembered most for his sensibility.

She's a woman of poetic sensibility.

Recent Examples on the Web

Her 2020 duo of albums, Folklore and Evermore, channeled the sound and sensibility of indie rock, refracting her perennial personal themes through a dark, blurry lens of fantasy and allegory. —Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2025

Germain McMicking—Neon Advertisement Together is a squishy-gross body-horror comedy about the ways longtime couples sometimes meld sensibilities so completely that one partner or the other may feel subsumed by the whole. —Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 4 Sep. 2025

Just 90 minutes from Milan or Turin, the town blends Alpine charm with an unmistakably Italian sensibility. —Erica Firpo, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025

Make the stuff that feels as close to your sensibility as possible. —Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 3 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for sensibility

• affability
• audibility
• bistability
• capability
• changeability
• contractility
• credibility
• culpability
• disability
• disutility
• durability
• fallibility

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Kids Definition

sensibility

noun

sen·​si·​bil·​i·​ty ˌsen(t)-sə-ˈbil-ət-ē 

plural sensibilities

1

: ability to receive sensations : sensitiveness

2

: response to a pleasurable or painful impression (as praise or criticism)

3

: the emotion or feeling of which a person is capable

Medical Definition

sensibility

noun

sen·​si·​bil·​i·​ty ˌsen(t)-sə-ˈbil-ət-ē 

plural sensibilities

1

: ability to receive sensations

sensibility to pain

2

: awareness of and responsiveness toward something (as emotion in another)