omniscient

American  

[om-nish-uhnt] / ɒmˈnɪʃ ənt /

adjective

1. having complete or unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding; perceiving all things.

---

noun

1. an omniscient being.

2. the Omniscient, God.

omniscient British  

/ ɒmˈnɪsɪənt /

adjective

1. having infinite knowledge or understanding

2. having very great or seemingly unlimited knowledge

---

Other Word Forms

• omniscience noun
• omnisciently adverb
• unomniscient adjective
• unomnisciently adverb

Etymology

Origin of omniscient

First recorded in 1595–1605; from New Latin omniscient-, stem of omnisciēns “all-knowing,” from Latin omni- omni- + sciēns “knowing” ( science )

Example Sentences

In theory, Santa is a perfect-information fantasy—omniscient, accurately targeted and morally calibrated.

From The Wall Street Journal

Each year, those firms become more intelligent and more omniscient about the markets, while the market mob becomes more animalistic and less focused on risks taken in pursuit of rewards.

From Barron's

The town they grow roots in is ironically named; from the omniscient narrator’s vantage point, New England’s beauty is in stark contrast to the community’s poverty and desperation.

From Los Angeles Times

I loved all the examples of Hitchcock’s omniscient point of view.

From Salon

So does narration that alternates between the main characters and an omniscient author, using first, second or third person singular, depending.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• all-knowing
• all-seeing