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.
How to make sense of the latest big move.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 30, 2026
In some regions, scientists have found fragments of old tectonic plates and bursts of volcanic activity that did not fully make sense before.
From Science Daily • Apr. 29, 2026
Stein’s strategy was to “sign now, make sense of it later.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026
A left-sided attacking player would make sense given United were in the market for Antoine Semenyo in January.
From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026
Back to the place where things make sense.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
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.
