experience
Americannoun
-
experiences
plural
-
a particular instance of personally encountering or undergoing something.
My encounter with the bear in the woods was a frightening experience.
-
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.
-
Philosophy. the totality of the cognitions given by perception; all that is perceived, understood, and remembered.
verb (used with object)
-
experiences,
present (3rd person singular)
-
experienced,
past participle, past
-
experiencing
present participle
idioms
noun
-
direct personal participation or observation; actual knowledge or contact
experience of prison life
-
a particular incident, feeling, etc, that a person has undergone
an experience to remember
-
accumulated knowledge, esp of practical matters
a man of experience
-
-
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
-
the faculty by which a person acquires knowledge of contingent facts about the world, as contrasted with reason
-
the totality of a person's perceptions, feelings, and memories
-
verb
-
to participate in or undergo
-
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
-
preexperiencenoun
-
reexperienceverb
-
experienceableadjective
-
experiencelessadjective
-
postexperienceadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
experiencesimple
-
experiencessimple
-
have experiencedperfect
-
has experiencedperfect
-
am experiencingprogressive
-
are experiencingprogressive
-
is experiencingprogressive
-
have been experiencingperfect progressive
-
has been experiencingperfect progressive
Past
-
experiencedsimple
-
had experiencedperfect
-
was experiencingprogressive
-
were experiencingprogressive
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Michelle Obama's Speech at the 2016 DNC
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Schooled
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Ukraine’s experience also reveals hard truths that Western political leaders and societies are forced to face.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
"Unfortunately, our losses, our blood, our military experience is beneficial to all of you guys. You can get this experience for all the assistance that you give us."
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
Some patients experience nausea and other gastrointestinal side effects.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
While the trial data will be shared at a coming conference, the companies said patients given the personalized vaccine alongside Merck’s Keytruda were significantly less likely to experience melanoma recurrence than those on Keytruda alone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
But, like all Hararis, she had too much experience with ghosts to be easily startled.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
“These experiences don’t seem as readily available now as they were a decade ago.”
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
A new generation of pastry chefs are stepping into the spotlight, with multicourse dessert experiences in New York, San Antonio and more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Flowers once said his "experiences weren't interesting enough" to be turned into lyrics.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
These combined Olympic experiences — an event ticket paired with upgrades in access and perks — have become more tempting for many as the number of Olympic seats shrinks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Olaudah Equiano, who had been captured as a boy, later wrote about his experiences.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
"She was a gifted teacher, an experienced administrator and Director of Music, but above all she was someone who gave so generously of herself to others," he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
According to the researchers, tooth loss could reflect the accumulated effects of chronic inflammation, frailty, nutritional health, lifestyle, and other systemic stresses experienced over many years.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026
As the rest of the nation has experienced large boom-and-bust cycles and now faces a persistent housing-affordability crisis, home prices in certain Midwestern cities have been mostly flat for more than a century.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026
The authors come to their subject as pedagogues steeped in educational theory but also as hands-on teachers experienced at working with individual children.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
The subprime mortgage market had experienced at least two distinct phases.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Nearly 10,000 power customers were experiencing outages, according to the utility NV Energy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
This preliminary study is the first to examine how vitamin D supplement intake relates to cognitive function specifically in a high-risk group experiencing both MCI and sleep disturbances.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
Used-book sellers are experiencing a surge in bulk orders from mystery buyers suspected of purchasing physical books to train AI models.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
Drought officials have declared 71.3% of England in drought, while parts of eastern Scotland are experiencing significant water scarcity.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
Four months ago, Vin began experiencing muscle pains, but refused to acknowledge his weaknesses.
From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera
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.
