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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

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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)

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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

You have spent years sharing conventional wisdom and sage advice, yet each week you find yourself restating these lessons for your readers.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026

But Bettany, whose character Vision is an android attempting to piece together his wiped memories and fragile humanity, had some sage advice.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

How she stumbles away from mourning is sometimes weird, but one of her friends offers sage advice as she does so: “It’s okay to be messy. That’s life, you know.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 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

In time there were two as perfectly adjusted to their habitat as the sage.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

After Boch was laid off from her job as an executive assistant in August 2025, she saw a Sage Haus listing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026

Sage Haus has placed workers with over 900 families this year, up from 100 in 2025.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026

I do worry for Sage because it seems a lot of Palace fans are uncertain about him and feel his team are too easy to get at.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

Noren of Sage Road Research said that Anthropic needs a wider customer base and that it is still too early to gauge whether it will remain at the top of the industry.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026

Sage asked me on Friday when the two of us were next to each other in line waiting for our turn to play tetherball.

From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff

Fox News’ Jessica sager contributed to this report.

From Fox News ● Aug. 28, 2019

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

From Time Magazine Archive

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

The same day, his wife decided she should leave him for a slimmer, sager man.

From Time Magazine Archive

The cavaliers sit upon carpets white Playing at tables for their delight; The older and sager sit at chess, The bachelors fence with a light address.

From Song and Legend from the Middle Ages by Porter Lander MacClintock

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

"By 1997 some filmmakers will have been absorbed into Hollywood," says Norman Wang, a New York-based film publicist and one of the Hong Kong industry's sagest insiders.

From Time Magazine Archive

Petrolle is one of the ring's sagest fighters.

From Time Magazine Archive

Perhaps not the sagest fellow to counsel the future Queen.

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

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