sensation
Americannoun
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sensations
plural
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the operation or function of the senses; perception or awareness of stimuli through the senses.
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a mental condition or physical feeling resulting from stimulation of a sense organ or from internal bodily change, as cold or pain.
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Physiology. the faculty of perception of stimuli.
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a general feeling not directly attributable to any given stimulus, as discomfort, anxiety, or doubt.
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a mental feeling, especially a state of excited feeling.
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a state of excited feeling or interest caused among a number of persons or throughout a community, as by some rumor or occurrence.
- Synonyms:
- perturbation, commotion, agitation, animation, stimulation, excitement
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a cause of such feeling or interest.
The new Brazilian movie was the sensation of the film festival.
noun
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the power of perceiving through the senses
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a physical condition or experience resulting from the stimulation of one of the sense organs
a sensation of warmth
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a general feeling or awareness
a sensation of fear
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a state of widespread public excitement
his announcement caused a sensation
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anything that causes such a state
your speech was a sensation
Synonym Usage
See sense.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of sensation
First recorded in 1605–15; from Medieval Latin sēnsātiōn- (stem of sēnsātiō ), equivalent to Late Latin sēnsāt(us) sensate + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
A sensation is a type of feeling, picked up by one of the five senses. Peppercorns will give you the sensation of a million tiny pinpricks on your tongue. A sensation is something from your senses. If you lose sensation in your feet, they are numb and it's time for you to get up and move around to restore blood flow. You can call something a sensation if it is wonderful and astonishing. Your parents will tell you that you were a sensation in the school play. Everyone will want to go see the special-effects movie that critics are calling a worldwide sensation.
Vocabulary lists containing sensation
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Common Senses: Sent, Sens ("Feel")
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The Cay
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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.
See Examples For:
Popular student leader Neha Bora became a viral sensation after a case of mistaken identity led to police detaining her lookalike.
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026
“Most players will tell you that hitting a home run—especially in a critical moment of a big game—is a sensation that can’t be topped,” Mr. Winfield writes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
That makes Nav1.7 an unusual therapeutic target because it appears to influence both the sensation of pain and the physical deterioration of joint tissue.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
The song starts as a word-of-mouth sensation, filling a local restaurant as more and more teenagers hear about this new band and their soon-to-be hit from their friends.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
For a few moments her belly felt comfortably stretched, but the sensation quickly vanished.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
The mind learns that disconnecting can allow a person to get space from the sensations, emotions, or experiences that are painful or overwhelming.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026
"I've never felt these sensations ever in my life", he told CBS News, BBC News's US partner.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
Those faulty messages can produce shooting, stabbing or burning sensations.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026
A novelist explores narrative, making sense of themes, motifs and sensations to try to communicate about the complexity of a globe with some eight billion people in it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
How could she possibly describe the flavors and sensations of tasting delicious desserts?
From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
