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• sage
  sage

  noun

  a profoundly wise person; a person famed for wisdom.
• Sage
  Sage

  noun

  Russell, 1816–1906, U.S. financier.

sage

¹ American  

[seyj] / seɪdʒ /

noun

1. 

   a profoundly wise person; a person famed for wisdom.

   Synonyms:

   philosopher

   Antonyms:

   fool

2. someone venerated for the possession of wisdom, judgment, and experience.

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adjective

sager, sagest

1. wise, judicious, or prudent.

   sage advice.

   Synonyms:

   sagacious

sage ² American  

[seyj] / seɪdʒ /

noun

1. any plant or shrub belonging to the genus Salvia, of the mint family.

2. an herb, Salvia officinalis, whose grayish-green leaves are used medicinally and in cooking.

3. the leaves of the medicinal and culinary herb Salvia officinalis.

4. sagebrush.

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Sage ³ American  

[seyj] / seɪdʒ /

noun

1. Russell, 1816–1906, U.S. financier.

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sage ¹ British  

/ seɪdʒ /

noun

1. a man revered for his profound wisdom

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adjective

1. profoundly wise or prudent

2. obsolete solemn

sage ² British  

/ seɪdʒ /

noun

1. a perennial Mediterranean plant, Salvia officinalis, having grey-green leaves and purple, blue, or white flowers: family Lamiaceae (labiates)

2. the leaves of this plant, used in cooking for flavouring

3. short for sagebrush

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Other Word Forms

• sageness
  noun
• sagely
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of sage¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin sapius (unattested), from Latin sap(ere) “to taste, have taste, smell, smell of; to have sense, discern, know, be wise” + -idus; see origin at sapient, -id ⁴

Origin of sage²

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English sa ( u ) ge, from Middle French sau ( l ) ge, from Latin salvia, derivative of salvus safe (so named from its supposed healing powers)

Explanation

Use the word sage for someone or something wise and judicious. Thanks to the sage advice of your friend, you didn't write your teacher an angry e-mail! Although you might think of a wizard when you hear the word sage, really it means a wise man. Today you see it used to refer to someone who has insight in a particular field. If someone is a policy sage, he knows just what advice to give politicians to make them understand the issue and respond successfully to it. In a totally unrelated use, there is also a plant called sage that is useful in home remedies and cooking.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sage Sage sager sagest

Parsley, chives, dill, sage, thyme — use what you have, and probably more of it than you initially think you need.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026

Getting to the ranch requires a journey up winding hills, past signs that read “Please Be Kind,” on roads flanked by cacti, chaparral and coastal sage scrub.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

Andy Serkis’s General Braddock is a blustering fool who refuses to take Washington’s sage advice seriously until it’s too late; as Mary, George’s mother, Mary-Louise Parker is a suffering saint.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

Upon entering the home, guests are greeted with an expansive living area that features wooden beams on the ceiling, French doors that open up to the balcony, a cozy fireplace, and a sage green bar.

From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026

The ones Mama cooked with, like sage and thyme, I recognized by the shape of their leaves.

From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce

Purple Sage is a slightly smaller solar-power and battery-storage project.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

In Nevada, two of the highest-profile developments that are advancing are the Mosey Solar Project and the Purple Sage Energy Center, both of which are poised to be built around the Pahrump Valley.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

Pierre Sage has endured an indifferent start to life at Palace.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

You sense that Sage Elsesser would excel in any endeavor he set out to master.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026

He thought about Benton Sage and his honest words.

From "Where Things Come Back" by John Corey Whaley

Fox News’ Jessica sager contributed to this report.

From Fox News ● Aug. 28, 2019

Stonyhurst's sager Jesuits were more up to date in their psychology.

From Time Magazine Archive

Most Britons, as Lord Byron once put it, "till by losing rendered sager, will back their own opinions by a wager."

From Time Magazine Archive

The same day, his wife decided she should leave him for a slimmer, sager man.

From Time Magazine Archive

Mrs. Kennyfeck yielded to the sager counsel, and the servant departed with the message.

From Roland Cashel Volume II (of II) by Charles James Lever

But joining the Little Red Book author in a shrine to the all-time sagest minds in golf would be his English counterpart, John Jacobs.

From Golf Digest ● Oct. 16, 2013

The sagest maneuver of the season may have been the removal of the cots from the coaches' offices in Cincinnati.

From Time Magazine Archive

Perhaps not the sagest fellow to counsel the future Queen.

From Time Magazine Archive

Scapegoat elected for Mussolini's Albanian fiasco was white-haired, crinkle-eyed Marshal Pietro Badoglio, Chief of the General Staff, universally recognized as Italy's sagest soldier.

From Time Magazine Archive

“The impressions he made upon me suggested he was not of the sagest, nor of the most excellent of men.”

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson