Showing results for "perceived"

• past tense form of perceive.
• past participle of perceive.

perceived

American  

[per-seevd] / pərˈsivd /

adjective

1. taken in by the senses; heard, seen, felt, etc..

   Spontaneous memories are activated by specific signals from the parts of the brain that deal with perceived stimuli like smells, pictures, and words.

2. detected, discerned, or recognized, often without corroboration by others.

   He fails to appreciate that the perceived "backlash" against his post was not an expression of reluctance to accept change, just disagreement with his specific proposal.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of perceive.

Other Word Forms

• perceivedness
  noun
• unperceived
  adjective
• well-perceived
  adjective
• perceivedly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of perceived

perceive ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Explanation

If you sense something is true by instinct, but not necessarily by fact, you can describe that sense as perceived. If you suspect that your neighbor's dog might be dangerous, you can say the dog is a perceived threat to your family's safety. The adjective perceived has its Latin roots in per, meaning "thoroughly," and capere, meaning "to grasp." Today it retains a sense of grasping something mentally or sensing it. Oddly, the word has two conflicting meanings: first, something you infer or suspect, rather than detecting with your senses. The second meaning, however, is quite the opposite: something sensed through your actual senses, especially those of sight or hearing.

Example Sentences

In recent years, the Chinese internet has gone after people perceived to be enjoying unfair privilege.

From BBC • Jul. 3, 2026

According to the researchers, these deeply rooted mental models can persist because they reduce uncertainty, even if they also distort how reality is perceived.

From Science Daily • Jul. 1, 2026

Soon after the Civil War, Protestant Christians in the U.S. perceived a new threat.

From Salon • Jun. 29, 2026

Although the loss of some potential revenue for Alphabet might appear to be negative, it’s an indication of the perceived strength of Google’s AI models.

From Barron's • Jun. 29, 2026

And again he perceived himself sub specie aeternitatis, the form-destroyer called forth by what he heard and saw here.

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick

Related Words

• anticipated
• recognized