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.
In a matter of weeks, she dashed off 11 short, guitar-based songs that tried to make sense of her whirlwind two years.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
The Swiss drugmaker is open to doing deals as long as they make sense from a financial perspective, Schinecker says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
“If we refinance now, we would have to stay in the home for at least five to eight years for the break-even point to even make sense a little bit,” Markowicz said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
There are 100 feasible readings of Żuławski’s film, and just when those all seem to make sense, you could conjure up a 101st.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
Only, now it claimed François Fournier was currently in the server room, which didn’t make sense because he’d clocked out and left the building nearly three hours earlier.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
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.
