Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having great wisdom and discernment.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Wise; sage; discerning: now generally used ironically.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Wise; sage; discerning; -- often in irony or contempt.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Possessing wisdom and discernment; wise, learned.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective acutely insightful and wise

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin sapiēns, sapient-, present participle of sapere, to taste, be wise; see sep- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French sapient, or its source, Latin sapiēns.

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Examples

  • We chose the term sapient leadership to describe what we see changing in the leader's role.

    Forbes.com: News Haydn Shaughnessy 2011

  • One of my main conclusions is that our species is simply not sufficiently wise (or I prefer the term 'sapient' to differentiate between a native capacity and an actualized capability) to deal with the world we have created.

    Energy Bulletin - 2009

  • One of my main conclusions is that our species is simply not sufficiently wise (or I prefer the term 'sapient' to differentiate between a native capacity and an actualized capability) to deal with the world we have created.

    Energy Bulletin - 2009

  • Wide-ranging introduction to the paradoxes arising from standard assumptions about technological progress, the abundance of sapient life and the age of planets.

    Shakespeare and the Supremes 2009

  • Wide-ranging introduction to the paradoxes arising from standard assumptions about technological progress, the abundance of sapient life and the age of planets.

    Replacing Rahm 2009

  • Wide-ranging introduction to the paradoxes arising from standard assumptions about technological progress, the abundance of sapient life and the age of planets.

    Dorothy June McVay Veal, March 1, 1922 – October 19, 2009 2009

  • Wide-ranging introduction to the paradoxes arising from standard assumptions about technological progress, the abundance of sapient life and the age of planets.

    Stromata Blog: 2010

  • Wide-ranging introduction to the paradoxes arising from standard assumptions about technological progress, the abundance of sapient life and the age of planets.

    Moscow’s New (But Cloudy) Day 2009

  • Wide-ranging introduction to the paradoxes arising from standard assumptions about technological progress, the abundance of sapient life and the age of planets.

    Stromata Blog: 2010

  • Wide-ranging introduction to the paradoxes arising from standard assumptions about technological progress, the abundance of sapient life and the age of planets.

    Stromata Blog 2010

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