sensuous
Americanadjective
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gratifying the senses.
You can wear your denim jacket, but the sensuous look and feel of a velvet blazer will elevate your outfit.
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readily affected through the senses; sensual; physical.
a sensuous temperament;
a sensuous young man.
- Synonyms:
- sensitive, feeling, voluptuous, luxurious, luscious, palatable, pleasurable, pleasing, pleasant, gratifying
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of or relating to the senses or objects that can be perceived by the senses; sensory; material.
His observations based on sensuous experience seem self-evident, but the subsequent speculations are far-fetched.
Aristotelian scholarly tradition subjected the sensuous qualities of music to mathematical and metaphysical analysis.
adjective
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aesthetically pleasing to the senses
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appreciative of or moved by qualities perceived by the senses
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of, relating to, or derived from the senses
Synonym Usage
See sensual.
Other Word Forms
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antisensuousnessnoun
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hypersensuousnessnoun
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nonsensuousnessnoun
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sensuositynoun
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sensuousnessnoun
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subsensuousnessnoun
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supersensuousnessnoun
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unsensuousnessnoun
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antisensuousadjective
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hypersensuousadjective
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nonsensuousadjective
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subsensuousadjective
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supersensuousadjective
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unsensuousadjective
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sensuouslyadverb
Etymology
Origin of sensuous
First recorded in 1630–40; from Latin sēnsus “sensation, feeling, any of the five senses, awareness”; see origin at sense, -ous
Explanation
Anything that is pleasing to the senses can be called sensuous. The feel of a soft cashmere sweater on your skin, the taste of dark chocolate, even the smell of your favorite person — all of these can be sensuous experiences. Sensuous describes anything that feels, tastes, smells, looks, or sounds good. Eating delicious food or relaxing in a warm bath are sensuous activities. But something intellectually satisfying, like doing a crossword puzzle or solving a math problem, is not exactly sensuous, even if you really like doing it. Use sensuous to describe stuff that makes your five senses happy.
Vocabulary lists containing sensuous
Common Senses: Sent, Sens ("Feel")
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
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Warm-up, List 11
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Impressively, “A Private Man” is sensuous but never salacious.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
We find ourselves in that time of year dedicated to the most sensuous and worldly of the earth signs — that is, Taurus season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 19, 2024
Initially, the prose is rich and sensuous but becomes less sumptuous as the story progresses.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 12, 2024
He evokes the natures of the key players, their feats and their settings in time and place with sensuous immediacy.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 13, 2023
Vivaldi’s Italian innovations, honed to sensuous perfection in the carnival city of Venice, travelled north across the Alps and found a fan in Lutheran north-east Germany: Johann Sebastian Bach.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
