omniscient
Americanadjective
-
having infinite knowledge or understanding
-
having very great or seemingly unlimited knowledge
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of omniscient
First recorded in 1595–1605; from New Latin omniscient-, stem of omnisciēns “all-knowing,” from Latin omni- omni- + sciēns “knowing” ( see science)
Explanation
To be omniscient is to know everything. This often refers to a special power of God. If you combine the Latin roots omnis (meaning "all") and scientia (meaning "knowledge"), you'll get omniscient, meaning "knowledge of all." It would be nice to be omniscient: then you would know absolutely everything in the world. Many religions have a god who is all-powerful and omniscient. This is how a god is supposed to know when you sinned, or what's going to happen in the future.
Vocabulary lists containing omniscient
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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!
Essential Academic Vocabulary for Middle School Students, List 3
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!
Latin Love, Vol I: sci
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.
Yet economic policy-makers are neither omniscient nor omnipotent.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 11, 2026
Instead of omniscient narrators, they deployed free indirect speech to reveal characters’ innermost thoughts.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026
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 • Dec. 10, 2025
Wiseman, whose observational approach has often been mischaracterized as objective or omniscient, here drops any pretense to neutrality, so potent and overpowering is his sense of kinship with a fellow artist.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 29, 2023
A girl needed to preserve some mystery, even from her omniscient Dadi.
From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon
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.
