sensuous
Americanadjective
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gratifying the senses.
You can wear your denim jacket, but the sensuous look and feel of a velvet blazer will elevate your outfit.
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readily affected through the senses; sensual; physical.
a sensuous temperament;
a sensuous young man.
- Synonyms:
- sensitive, feeling, voluptuous, luxurious, luscious, palatable, pleasurable, pleasing, pleasant, gratifying
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of or relating to the senses or objects that can be perceived by the senses; sensory; material.
His observations based on sensuous experience seem self-evident, but the subsequent speculations are far-fetched.
Aristotelian scholarly tradition subjected the sensuous qualities of music to mathematical and metaphysical analysis.
adjective
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aesthetically pleasing to the senses
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appreciative of or moved by qualities perceived by the senses
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of, relating to, or derived from the senses
Synonym Usage
See sensual.
Other Word Forms
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antisensuousadjective
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antisensuousnessnoun
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hypersensuousadjective
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hypersensuousnessnoun
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nonsensuousadjective
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nonsensuousnessnoun
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sensuositynoun
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sensuouslyadverb
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sensuousnessnoun
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subsensuousadjective
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subsensuousnessnoun
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supersensuousadjective
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supersensuousnessnoun
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unsensuousadjective
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unsensuousnessnoun
Etymology
Origin of sensuous
First recorded in 1630–40; from Latin sēnsus “sensation, feeling, any of the five senses, awareness”; see origin at sense, -ous
Explanation
Anything that is pleasing to the senses can be called sensuous. The feel of a soft cashmere sweater on your skin, the taste of dark chocolate, even the smell of your favorite person — all of these can be sensuous experiences. Sensuous describes anything that feels, tastes, smells, looks, or sounds good. Eating delicious food or relaxing in a warm bath are sensuous activities. But something intellectually satisfying, like doing a crossword puzzle or solving a math problem, is not exactly sensuous, even if you really like doing it. Use sensuous to describe stuff that makes your five senses happy.
Vocabulary lists containing sensuous
Common Senses: Sent, Sens ("Feel")
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
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Warm-up, List 11
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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.
Sensuous, poetic, overwhelming, it simultaneously invites and mocks the idea of interpretation, safeguarding certain freedoms in the process.
From Washington Post • Feb. 16, 2021
“Plantasia” was released in 1976 by electronic music pioneer Mort Garson, a Moog devotee known for his album-length synth compositions like “The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds” and “Music for Sensuous Lovers.”
From Salon • Nov. 14, 2019
While Ms. Berry, owner of Inhale yoga studio in Venice, Calif., offered several tempting retreats, I zeroed in on “Spell of the Sensuous: Yoga + Art + Gastronomia in Italy.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 29, 2016
The Sensuous Curmudgeon - “Conserving the Enlightenment values of reason, liberty, science, and free enterprise” – seems to be dominated by schadenfreude.
From Forbes • Mar. 9, 2015
Sensuous impressions are the raw material of thoughts, but discrimination and classification of things according to their similarities, is the operation of thought.
From Education in The Home, The Kindergarten, and The Primary School by Peabody, Elizabeth P. (Palmer)
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.
