Synonyms of senses

senses 1 of 2

noun

plural of sense

1

as in feelings

an indefinite physical response to a stimulus

a strange sense of discomfort brought on by the room's strong colors

Synonyms & Similar Words

• feelings
• feels
• sensations
• perceptions
• impressions
• suggestions
• touches
• hints

2

as in meanings

the idea that is conveyed or intended to be conveyed to the mind by language, symbol, or action

got the general sense of the poem

Synonyms & Similar Words

• meanings
• contents
• intentions
• intents
• imports
• significances
• connotations
• definitions
• themes
• messages
• implications
• drifts
• significations
• natures
• cues
• denotations
• suggestions
• indications
• spirits
• topics
• clues
• essences
• stuff
• purports
• motives
• intimations
• souls
• hints
• subjects
• hearts
• inklings
• questions
• matters
• burdens
• acceptances
• points
• kernels
• essentialities
• acceptations
• nuclei
• tenors
• motifs
• bottoms
• cores
• piths
• nubs
• marrows
• gists
• quicks
• cruxes

senses

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of sense

1

as in smells

to have a vague awareness of

the deer seemed to sense danger

Synonyms & Similar Words

• smells
• feels
• sees
• perceives
• notices
• tastes
• hears
• scents
• eyes
• sights
• realizes
• expects
• witnesses
• notes
• looks (at)
• anticipates
• discerns
• learns
• remarks
• beholds
• suspects
• discovers
• views
• spies
• guesses
• observes
• distinguishes
• regards
• foresees
• supposes
• finds out
• descries
• espies
• ascertains
• presumes
• assumes
• speculates
• divines
• surmises
• catches on (to)
• foreknows
• conjectures

2

as in knows

to have a clear idea of

I did not sense the full meaning of his cryptic warning until much later

Synonyms & Similar Words

• knows
• understands
• comprehends
• grasps
• deciphers
• recognizes
• sees
• appreciates
• perceives
• discerns
• realizes
• apprehends
• intuits
• gets
• conceives
• beholds
• assimilates
• seizes
• cognizes
• registers
• tumbles (to)
• makes
• decodes
• twigs
• catches
• catches on (to)
• digs
• compasses
• savvies
• groks
• picks up on
• makes out
• cottons (to or on to)
• absorbs
• digests
• penetrates
• takes in
• fathoms
• pierces

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• misses
• mistakes
• misunderstands
• misreads
• misconceives
• misconstrues
• misinterprets
• misapprehends
• misperceives

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of senses

Noun

Go for a subtle scent that catches in the breeze rather than overpowers the senses. —Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 9 May 2026

The experiment relied on a sensitive piece of equipment known as a torsion balance, a device that senses minute forces by measuring the twisting angle, or torsion, of metal masses suspended on a thin fiber, which must be operated in a vacuum. —Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 7 May 2026

An automatic lift senses when your bread is in the slots and automatically lowers it. —Bestreviews, Mercury News, 7 May 2026

That the device of the future is smart glasses—after all, those are closest to our key senses, our eyes and ears. —Alyson Shontell, Fortune, 6 May 2026

Devo’s yellow hazmat jumpsuits are in tatters, an unavoidable side effect of the band’s collective (in all senses) perpetual motion. —Michael Tedder, SPIN, 5 May 2026

More than just fluffy robes and a great massage, what makes a spa worth traveling for is the ambiance, evoking all your senses. —Kristine Hansen, Travel + Leisure, 30 Apr. 2026

Garvey also stresses the importance of using your senses when evaluating items. —Jazmine A. Ortiz, USA Today, 30 Apr. 2026

Such items can aid mindfulness by engaging the senses to help return to the present moment. —Tom Gavin, EverydayHealth.com, 30 Apr. 2026

Verb

Trigeminovascular System Activation Initiates Headache Pain The initiation of cortical spreading depression, which is linked to an aura, also activates the trigeminovascular system, a network of nerves and blood vessels in your head that senses pain and sends signals to your brain. —Anna Giorgi, Verywell Health, 30 Apr. 2026

The team also found genetic differences between cancers that were able to spread in the heart and those that were not, and identified a protein that senses mechanical forces and reduces the activity of genes linked to proliferation in cancer cells. —Anil Oza, STAT, 23 Apr. 2026

This can happen due to a draft, a dirty pilot opening, or issues with the thermocouple (a small device that senses the pilot flame and controls the gas valve). —Katie Cloyd, Martha Stewart, 21 Apr. 2026

What Gemini says, Pisces feels, and what Pisces senses, Gemini tries to rationalize. —Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 17 Apr. 2026

Navigating that tension makes a living cell a rudimentary agent — one that senses its own internal state and the environment, and then acts upon that information. —Amanda Gefter, Quanta Magazine, 10 Apr. 2026

The Bose PositionIQ technology inside the speaker senses its orientation and adjusts the audio accordingly. —George Yang, PC Magazine, 6 Apr. 2026

But the organ that senses those hormones is usually separate from the one that delivers the sperm; in male octopuses, the hectocotylus does both. —Cody Cottier, Scientific American, 2 Apr. 2026

Someone senses something is wrong — unstable snow, deteriorating conditions, a risky route — but speaking up means challenging the plan and slowing everyone down. —Jane Sadowsky, Fortune, 28 Mar. 2026