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• sage
  sage

  noun

  a profoundly wise person; a person famed for wisdom.
• Sage
  Sage

  noun

  Russell, 1816–1906, U.S. financier.

sage

¹ American  

[sayj] / seɪdʒ /

noun

1. 

   a profoundly wise person; a person famed for wisdom.

   Synonyms:

   philosopher

   Antonyms:

   fool

2. someone venerated for the possession of wisdom, judgment, and experience.

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adjective

sager, sagest

1. wise, judicious, or prudent.

   sage advice.

   Synonyms:

   sagacious

sage ² American  

[sayj] / seɪdʒ /

noun

1. any plant or shrub belonging to the genus Salvia, of the mint family.

2. an herb, Salvia officinalis, whose grayish-green leaves are used medicinally and in cooking.

3. the leaves of the medicinal and culinary herb Salvia officinalis.

4. sagebrush.

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Sage ³ American  

[sayj] / seɪdʒ /

noun

1. Russell, 1816–1906, U.S. financier.

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sage ¹ British  

/ seɪdʒ /

noun

1. a man revered for his profound wisdom

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adjective

1. profoundly wise or prudent

2. obsolete solemn

sage ² British  

/ seɪdʒ /

noun

1. a perennial Mediterranean plant, Salvia officinalis, having grey-green leaves and purple, blue, or white flowers: family Lamiaceae (labiates)

2. the leaves of this plant, used in cooking for flavouring

3. short for sagebrush

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Other Word Forms

• sageness
  noun
• sagely
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of sage¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin sapius (unattested), from Latin sap(ere) “to taste, have taste, smell, smell of; to have sense, discern, know, be wise” + -idus; see origin at sapient, -id ⁴

Origin of sage²

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English sa ( u ) ge, from Middle French sau ( l ) ge, from Latin salvia, derivative of salvus safe (so named from its supposed healing powers)

Explanation

Use the word sage for someone or something wise and judicious. Thanks to the sage advice of your friend, you didn't write your teacher an angry e-mail! Although you might think of a wizard when you hear the word sage, really it means a wise man. Today you see it used to refer to someone who has insight in a particular field. If someone is a policy sage, he knows just what advice to give politicians to make them understand the issue and respond successfully to it. In a totally unrelated use, there is also a plant called sage that is useful in home remedies and cooking.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sage Sage sager sagest

For now, the green sage is merely a bronze statue on the lawn, posed to ignore the grinning Grogu behind him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

Parsley, chives, dill, sage, thyme — use what you have, and probably more of it than you initially think you need.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026

The colorful aesthetic follows into the kitchen, which is adorned with sage green cabinetry, a wooden island, and state-of-the-art appliances.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

Andy Serkis’s General Braddock is a blustering fool who refuses to take Washington’s sage advice seriously until it’s too late; as Mary, George’s mother, Mary-Louise Parker is a suffering saint.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

I wanted so badly to describe the prairie smell to him, the sweet promise of spring after a Chinook, the warm, edgy rub of sage, the rib-eye steak smell of my fields.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

Utility-scale projects like Nevada’s Mosey Solar Project and the Purple Sage Energy Center bring a number of construction jobs and lease payments to rural communities that need both.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

Reporters turned up to Sage to speak with the manager and his players; even Chandler's mum was interviewed by BBC Radio Newcastle legend Paul Dixon.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

In Nevada, two of the highest-profile developments that are advancing are the Mosey Solar Project and the Purple Sage Energy Center, both of which are poised to be built around the Pahrump Valley.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

Pierre Sage has endured an indifferent start to life at Palace.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

When Benton Sage found out that he would be going on a mission for his church that year, he was overwhelmed with excitement and panic.

From "Where Things Come Back" by John Corey Whaley

Fox News’ Jessica sager contributed to this report.

From Fox News ● Aug. 28, 2019

How about the remark of reputedly sager and more worldly-wise of the founding fathers: "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."

From Time Magazine Archive

If they could trust his sincerity, Republicans could have found no sager counselor than Charley Michelson.

From Time Magazine Archive

Stonyhurst's sager Jesuits were more up to date in their psychology.

From Time Magazine Archive

"I'm not growing sager as I grow older," thought Avdyeeich, with some self-contempt.

From Christmas in Legend and Story A Book for Boys and Girls by Elva S. Smith

But joining the Little Red Book author in a shrine to the all-time sagest minds in golf would be his English counterpart, John Jacobs.

From Golf Digest ● Oct. 16, 2013

Perhaps not the sagest fellow to counsel the future Queen.

From Time Magazine Archive

Uncle Giorgio was the sagest bandit chieftain in Sicily and, as a man of rugged common sense, considerably disturbed about his favorite nephew, Aquila.

From Time Magazine Archive

The sagest maneuver of the season may have been the removal of the cots from the coaches' offices in Cincinnati.

From Time Magazine Archive

“The impressions he made upon me suggested he was not of the sagest, nor of the most excellent of men.”

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson