perception
Americannoun
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the act or faculty of perceiving, or apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding.
- Synonyms:
- recognition, sense, awareness
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immediate or intuitive recognition or appreciation, as of moral, psychological, or aesthetic qualities; insight; intuition; discernment.
an artist of rare perception.
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the result or product of perceiving, as distinguished from the act of perceiving; percept.
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Psychology. a single unified awareness derived from sensory processes while a stimulus is present.
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Law. the taking into possession of rents, crops, profits, etc.
noun
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the act or the effect of perceiving
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insight or intuition gained by perceiving
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the ability or capacity to perceive
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way of perceiving; awareness or consciousness; view
advertising affects the customer's perception of a product
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the process by which an organism detects and interprets information from the external world by means of the sensory receptors
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law the collection, receipt, or taking into possession of rents, crops, etc
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of perception
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English percepcioun, from Old French percepcïon, from Latin perceptiōn-, stem of perceptiō “comprehension,” literally, “a taking in”; see percept, -ion
Explanation
Each generation has a different perception — view, idea or understanding — of what is cool. You wouldn't want to walk around in the paisley patterns of the 1960s or the big hair of the 1980s today! Based on the Latin root cipere, "to grasp," perception refers to the way you take in the world through your senses. Have you ever thought a stair was bigger than it really was so your step was too heavy? Your depth perception was off. The noun also means the opinions and beliefs you've formed about something. Your perception of your room after you've cleaned it is different than your parents' — you see clean and they probably don't.
Vocabulary lists containing perception
Vocabulary from the Introduction to "Reality is Broken" by Jane McGonigal
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"Animal Wisdom" and "The Last Wolf," Vocabulary from the poems
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Content Summary G.2: Regionalization
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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.
Variant Perception said its S&P 500 “Correction Signal” has only been triggered three times since 2019.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026
Perception: Economic growth means that earnings and income have increased rapidly.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 2, 2026
According to the Transparency International watchdog's Corruption Perception Index, Bulgaria ranks as among the most corrupt EU member states, along with Hungary and Romania.
From Barron's • Nov. 26, 2025
Perception, and what one chooses not to see, is another one of the novel’s themes.
From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2025
Thus our simple Ideas are clear, when they are such as the Objects themselves, from whence they were taken, did, in a well-ordered Sensation or Perception, present them…
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
