make sense
Idioms-
Be understandable. This usage, first recorded in 1686, is often used in a negative context, as in This explanation doesn't make sense .
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Be reasonable, wise, or practical, as in It makes sense to find out first how many will attend the conference . This term employs sense in the meaning of “what is reasonable,” a usage dating from 1600. In Britain it is also put as stand to sense .
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.
A rematch with Verhoeven may now make sense for Usyk.
From BBC • Jun. 26, 2026
Since taking office, Newsom has argued that it doesn’t make sense for savings to count as spending under state law.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 23, 2026
SpaceX has a uniquely huge IPO; we finally have a deal with Iran, and “tobacco-bonds” no longer make sense.
From Slate • Jun. 20, 2026
The stakes are high for investors trying to make sense of the numbers, as well as for passive index investors.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 18, 2026
In the cortex, you feel your emotions and you make sense of what your senses are telling you.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
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.
