Definitions

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

  • adjective Acting with or exhibiting good judgment; reasonable.
  • adjective Not ornate or impractical.
  • adjective Having a perception of something; cognizant: synonym: aware.
  • adjective Perceptible or appreciable by the senses or by the mind.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Capable of affecting the senses; perceptible through the bodily organs.
  • Perceptible to the mind through observation and reflection; appreciable.
  • Capable of sensation; having the capacity of receiving impressions from external objects; endowed with sense or sense-organs; sensitive: as, the eye is sensible to light.
  • Appreciative; amenable (to); influenced or capable of being influenced (by).
  • Very liable to impression from without; easily affected; highly sensitive.
  • Perceiving or having perception either by the senses or by the intellect; aware; cognizant; persuaded: conscious: generally with of.
  • Capable of responding to very slight changes of condition; sensitive (in this sense the better word): as, a sensible thermometer or balance.
  • Possessing or characterized by sense, judgment, or reason; endowed with or characterized by good or common sense; intelligent; reasonable; judicious: as, a sensible man; a sensible proposal.
  • Synonyms and Sensible, Perceptibl. Literally, these words are of about the same meaning and strength, the difference depending chiefly upon the connection; for example, a sensible difference, a perceptible difference.
  • 3 and Be Sensible, Be Conscious, etc. See feel.
  • 3 and Sensible, Sensitive, Sentient. Sensible in its first meaning was passive, but is now quite as often active. As active, it is both physical and mental, and is unemphatic: as, to be sensible (that is, aware) of heat or cold, of neglect or injury. Sensitive means feeling acutely, either in body or in mind. A sensible man will school himself not to be too sensitive to criticism. Sentient is a physiologically descriptive word, indicating the possession or use of the sense of feeling: as, the fly is a sentient being.
  • 6. Observant, aware, conscious.
  • 8. Sensible, Judicious, discreet, sage, sagacious, sound. As compared with judicious, sensible means possessing common sense, having a sound and practical reason, while judicious means discreet in choosing what to do or advise; the one applying to the nnderstanding and judgment, the other to the judgment in its relation to the will. Sensible, Intelligent, Common-sense. As compared with intelligent, sensible means possessed of the power to see things in their true light, the light of a correct judgment, a large, sound, roundabout sense, while intelligent means possessed of a clear and quick understanding, so as to apprehend an idea promptly and see it in its true relations. The relation between cause and effect is here so close that intelligent often seems to mean essentially the same as well-informed. Where the sense implied in sensible is thought of as peculiarly general or level to the experience, conclusions, or notions of the mass of men, common-sense is, by a new usage, sometimes employed: as, he was a common-sense person: he took a common-sense view of the matter. All these words apply both to the person and to his opinions, words, writings, etc.
  • noun Sensation; sensibility.
  • noun That which produces sensation; that which impresses itself on the senses; something perceptible; a material substance.
  • noun That which possesses sensibility or capability of feeling; a sensitive being.
  • noun In music, same as sensible note. See leading tone.

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

  • noun rare Sensation; sensibility.
  • noun That which impresses itself on the sense; anything perceptible.
  • noun rare That which has sensibility; a sensitive being.
  • adjective Capable of being perceived by the senses; apprehensible through the bodily organs; hence, also, perceptible to the mind; making an impression upon the sense, reason, or understanding; ������ heat; sensible resistance.
  • adjective Having the capacity of receiving impressions from external objects; capable of perceiving by the instrumentality of the proper organs; liable to be affected physsically or mentally; impressible.
  • adjective Hence: Liable to impression from without; easily affected; having nice perception or acute feeling; sensitive; also, readily moved or affected by natural agents; delicate.
  • adjective Perceiving or having perception, either by the senses or the mind; cognizant; perceiving so clearly as to be convinced; satisfied; persuaded.
  • adjective Having moral perception; capable of being affected by moral good or evil.
  • adjective Possessing or containing sense or reason; giftedwith, or characterized by, good or common sense; intelligent; wise.
  • adjective (Mus.) the major seventh note of any scale; -- so called because, being but a half step below the octave, or key tone, and naturally leading up to that, it makes the ear sensible of its approaching sound. Called also the leading tone.
  • adjective See Horizon, n., 2. (a).

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

  • adjective Perceptible by the senses.
  • adjective Easily perceived; appreciable.
  • adjective Able to feel or perceive.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to the senses; sensory.
  • adjective Cognizant; having the perception of something; aware of something.
  • adjective Acting with or showing good sense; able to make good judgements based on reason.
  • adjective Characterized more by usefulness or practicality than by fashionableness, especially of clothing.
  • noun obsolete sensation; sensibility.
  • noun obsolete That which impresses itself on the senses; anything perceptible.
  • noun obsolete That which has sensibility; a sensitive being.

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

  • adjective readily perceived by the senses
  • adjective able to feel or perceive
  • adjective aware intuitively or intellectually of something sensed
  • adjective showing reason or sound judgment

Etymologies

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

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin sēnsibilis, from sēnsus, sense; see sense.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin sensibilis ("perceptible by the senses, having feeling, sensible"), from sentire ("to feel, perceive"), past participle sensus.

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Examples

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  • In Spanish, "sensitive."

    July 4, 2007