subjectivity

sub·jec·tiv·i·ty | \ (ˌ)səb-ˌjek-ˈti-və-tē

How to pronounce subjectivity (audio)

\

Definition of subjectivity

: the quality, state, or nature of being subjective Any attempt to link landscapes and music together can suffer from some measure of subjectivity.— David J. Keeling He thinks that scientists and philosophers have unjustly neglected the subjectivity of conscious experience and that this has made it harder for them to explain some of the workings of the mind.— Anthony Gottlieb

Examples of subjectivity in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But this elegantly structured show is also a meditation on subjectivity — how each of us sees the world, ourselves and each other. — Ben Brantley, New York Times, "Best Theater of 2019," 3 Dec. 2019 These slips in and out of subjectivity—the subtle, barely there bits of speculation—this is repunditry. — Osita Nwanevu, The New Republic, "Joe Biden Is Right About The New York Times," 13 Oct. 2019 We are not used to experiencing the daily facts of trauma through the extreme subjectivity of a memoir. — Megan Garber, The Atlantic, "The Paradox at the Heart of Know My Name," 2 Oct. 2019 Human biases and subjectivities are encoded every step of the way. — Sidney Fussell, The Atlantic, "Algorithms Are People," 18 Sep. 2019 Under the new system, YouTube maintains that verification is still not an endorsement of content, but simply a reflection of notoriety and the strength of a brand, which is the squishiest bit of squishy subjectivity. — Wired, "Why It Matters That YouTube Changed Its Verification System," 20 Sep. 2019 This is a reductive understanding of an author who not only cherished individual subjectivity, but also valorized the transcendent power of collective action. — Sophie Pinkham, The New Republic, "Vasily Grossman’s Lost Epic," 27 Aug. 2019 Therefore, physicists are left with an unwanted element of subjectivity in their theory. — George Musser, Scientific American, "The Search for Truth in Physics," 25 Aug. 2019 But even accounting for that subjectivity, Trump’s prehurricane gambits have been pretty obvious. — Aaron Blake, The Denver Post, "Blake: Trump’s transparent and petty pre-hurricane politicking," 4 Sep. 2019

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

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about subjectivity

Dictionary Entries near subjectivity

subjective verb

Statistics for subjectivity

Last Updated

12 Dec 2019

Cite this Entry

“Subjectivity.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/subjectivity. Accessed 14 December 2019.

Keep scrolling for more

WORD OF THE DAY

impugn

to assail by words or arguments

Test Your Vocabulary

Great Scrabble Words—A Quiz

Which of the following Q-without-U words means the number five in cards or dice?

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.