experience
Americannoun
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experiences
plural
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a particular instance of personally encountering or undergoing something.
My encounter with the bear in the woods was a frightening experience.
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the process or fact of personally observing, encountering, or undergoing something.
business experience.
-
the observing, encountering, or undergoing of things generally as they occur in the course of time.
to learn from experience; the range of human experience.
-
knowledge or practical wisdom gained from what one has observed, encountered, or undergone.
a man of experience.
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Philosophy. the totality of the cognitions given by perception; all that is perceived, understood, and remembered.
verb (used with object)
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experiences,
present (3rd person singular)
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experienced,
past participle, past
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experiencing
present participle
idioms
noun
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direct personal participation or observation; actual knowledge or contact
experience of prison life
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a particular incident, feeling, etc, that a person has undergone
an experience to remember
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accumulated knowledge, esp of practical matters
a man of experience
-
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the totality of characteristics, both past and present, that make up the particular quality of a person, place, or people
-
the impact made on an individual by the culture of a people, nation, etc
the American experience
-
-
philosophy
-
the content of a perception regarded as independent of whether the apparent object actually exists Compare sense datum
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the faculty by which a person acquires knowledge of contingent facts about the world, as contrasted with reason
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the totality of a person's perceptions, feelings, and memories
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verb
-
to participate in or undergo
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to be emotionally or aesthetically moved by; feel
to experience beauty
Usage
What is another way to say experience? To experience something is to meet with it or feel it firsthand. How is experience different from undergo? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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preexperiencenoun
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reexperienceverb
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experienceableadjective
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experiencelessadjective
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postexperienceadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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experiencesimple
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experiencessimple
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have experiencedperfect
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has experiencedperfect
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am experiencingprogressive
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are experiencingprogressive
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is experiencingprogressive
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have been experiencingperfect progressive
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has been experiencingperfect progressive
Past
-
experiencedsimple
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had experiencedperfect
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was experiencingprogressive
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were experiencingprogressive
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had been experiencingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of experience
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, Middle French, from Latin experientia, equivalent to experient- (stem of experiēns, past participle of experīrī “to try, test”; see ex- 1, peril) + -ia noun suffix; see -ence
Explanation
If you experience something, you go through an unusual or exciting event. If you're experiencing the world's loopiest roller coaster, you'd better hope that the amusement park doesn't experience a power outage. Sometimes experience means accumulated knowledge and sometimes it refers to a single spectacular event. If you have experience in cooking, you have worked in a restaurant before. Learning by experience is a method of acquiring knowledge by doing and not by reading. On the other hand, when you come back from summer camp, your mom will want to hear about your experiences. And white-water rafting is quite an unforgettable experience.
Vocabulary lists containing experience
"Seventh Grade" by Gary Soto
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Michelle Obama's Speech at the 2016 DNC
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Schooled
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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.
See Examples For:
Meanwhile, the right also covers women and their partners who experience a pregnancy loss, including miscarriage, terminations and unsuccessful IVF embryo transfers.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
Modeling suggests it’s unlikely to cool the global average by more than about 1.5°C, although particular regions and seasons could experience much larger changes.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
But there are distinct benefits to schools with proven track records and teachers with decades of experience, he adds, not to mention environments where students interact with others whose career plans diverge from their own.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
In 2023, he told “Studio 22” podcast that he wanted to use his own experience to help others battling the same issues.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
“I thought . . . I thought it would be . . . a new experience to work in a large department store such as this.”
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
What you bring back with you is not only lifelong experiences and memories but also a substantial contribution to your future nest egg.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Yellowstone experiences thousands of earthquakes each year, and swarms are not unusual.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
Whether they’re reaching consumers or business decision makers, today’s CMOs are building influence through meaningful partnerships, cultural moments, industry conversations and experiences that create lasting business impact.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
She's part of England's older LGBTQ+ community, which a new report suggests often experiences poorer health, more limited finances and greater social isolation than the wider older population.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
But that was fair, because Ivy and Josie had had shared experiences Max couldn’t understand.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Perhaps double that number experienced temporary or permanent health effects but survived, although some will say that 100% of humanity was directly affected.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
More than a century later, she said experienced British Red Squirrel volunteers were now working with farmers and landowners to control grey squirrel populations near red colonies.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
This is not currently happening in the U.S., but since it has devastated other countries, I was eager to speak with someone who had experienced that worst-case scenario firsthand.
From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2026
Since May, it has added experienced risk-management staffers, including a former FBI agent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
Up to that point, Hubler’s bet had been “stress tested” for scenarios in which subprime pools experienced losses of 6 percent, the highest losses from recent history.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
After experiencing complications from her earlier knee replacement surgery, she says she was eager to try GAE and is glad she did.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
"So it could be panic, it could be anxiety. It's experiencing it all at the same time."
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
And the Bee is far from alone in both experiencing cuts and struggling with how to transform the business.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
Gradually, the person experiencing dementia is farther afield from their old self than anyone expects.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Sabrina calls out, reminding us to think about what we’re feeling and experiencing as we take in the images, because we will close the day with a reflection.
From "Piecing Me Together" by Renée Watson
Definitions 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.
