sensei

[sen-sey]

noun

1. a karate or judo instructor.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sensei¹

< Japanese: teacher, master, doctor < Middle Chinese, equivalent to Chinese xiānsheng ( xiān ahead + shēng born)

Example Sentences

Benicio del Toro plays Sensei Sergio St. Carlos, Willa’s karate teacher running something of an underground railroad for the town’s refugee population.

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Leonardo DiCaprio plays a drug-and-booze-addled revolutionary trying to rescue his kidnapped daughter, with Teyana Taylor, Regina Hall and Alana Haim as his comrades, Benicio del Toro as his wild-card ally Sensei Sergio and Sean Penn as their white-nationalist antagonist, Col.

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He wanted to be a better person and a sensei worthy of the kids he instructed.

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The fictional Sekai Taikai is a slightly less lethal version of the kumite from “Bloodsport,” albeit with martial arts star Lewis Tam as Sensei Wolf, an entirely new and evil dojo master, instead of Jean-Claude Van Damme, who's probably less affordable.

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That said, it was adorably quaint to see the recent midseason cliffhanger brawl be kicked off by a surly Russian sensei that resembles Zangief from “Street Fighter.”

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