sensible
[sen-suh-buh l]
- having, using, or showing good sense or sound judgment: a sensible young woman.
- cognizant; keenly aware (usually followed by of): sensible of his fault.
- significant in quantity, magnitude, etc.; considerable; appreciable: a sensible reduction in price.
- capable of being perceived by the senses; material: the sensible universe.
- capable of feeling or perceiving, as organs or parts of the body.
- perceptible to the mind.
- conscious: The patient was speechless but still sensible.
- Archaic. sensitive.
Show More
Origin of sensible
Synonyms
See more synonyms for sensible on Thesaurus.com1. intelligent, sagacious, rational, reasonable. 2. conscious, understanding, observant. 4. perceptible, discernible, palpable.
Synonym study
1. See practical.
Antonyms
1. stupid.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for sensibly
Contemporary Examples
When hardworking people with limited food have the chance, they sensibly sit or lie, which costs much less energy than standing.
The Queen, sensibly, spends all her holidays at Balmoral or Sandringham, where she can truly be assured of total privacy.
Others, like the ability to get into very narrow specialty products, are “advantages” that you have sensibly eschewed.
Richard Holbrooke was a proud specimen of our national character—relentless, expansive, and sensibly patriotic.
“Because we are product designers,” Hannes Koch says, sensibly.
Historical Examples
I own to you that my pride and my tenderness are sensibly wounded.
Tales And Novels, Volume 8 (of 10)Maria Edgeworth
I was handsome, and my vanity was sensibly tickled by the metamorphosis.
ClarimondeThophile Gautier
"I am glad to hear you speak so sensibly, my young friend," said the Scotchman, kindly.
The Young MinerHoratio Alger, Jr.
Some progress is sensibly made in it; yet not so much as I had hoped and expected.
It is a sort of expostulation with the Duke, but mildly and sensibly expressed.
Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745.Mrs. Thomson
sensible
- having or showing good sense or judgmenta sensible decision
- (of clothing) serviceable; practicalsensible shoes
- having the capacity for sensation; sensitive
- capable of being apprehended by the senses
- perceptible to the mind
- (sometimes foll by of) having perception; awaresensible of your kindness
- readily perceived; considerablea sensible difference
Show More
- Also called: sensible note a less common term for leading note
Show More
Word Origin
C14: from Old French, from Late Latin sēnsibilis, from Latin sentīre to sense
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for sensibly
sensible
adj.
late 14c., "capable of sensation or feeling;" also "capable of being sensed or felt, perceptible to the senses," hence "easily understood; logical, reasonable," from Late Latin sensibilis "having feeling, perceptible by the senses," from sensus, past participle of sentire "perceive, feel" (see sense (n.)). Of persons, "aware, cognizant (of something)" early 15c.; "having good sense, capable of reasoning, discerning, clever," mid-15c. Of clothes, shoes, etc., "practical rather than fashionable" it is attested from 1855.
Other Middle English senses included "susceptible to injury or pain" (early 15c., now gone with sensitive); "worldly, temporal, outward" (c.1400); "carnal, unspiritual" (early 15c., now gone with sensual). Related: Sensibleness.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
sensible
(sĕn′sə-bəl)- Perceptible by the senses or by the mind.
- Having the faculty of sensation; able to feel or perceive.
- Having a perception of something; cognizant.
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.