sentiment

[sen-tuh-muhnt]

noun

1. an attitude toward something; regard; opinion.

2. a mental feeling; emotion.

   a sentiment of pity.

3. refined or tender emotion; manifestation of the higher or more refined feelings.

4. exhibition or manifestation of feeling or sensibility, or appeal to the tender emotions, in literature, art, or music.

5. a thought influenced by or proceeding from feeling or emotion.

6. the thought or feeling intended to be conveyed by words, acts, or gestures as distinguished from the words, acts, or gestures themselves.

sentiment

/ ˈsɛntɪmənt /

noun

1. susceptibility to tender, delicate, or romantic emotion

   she has too much sentiment to be successful

2. (often plural) a thought, opinion, or attitude

3. exaggerated, overindulged, or mawkish feeling or emotion

4. an expression of response to deep feeling, esp in art or literature

5. a feeling, emotion, or awareness

   a sentiment of pity

6. a mental attitude modified or determined by feeling

   there is a strong revolutionary sentiment in his country

7. a feeling conveyed, or intended to be conveyed, in words

Other Word Forms

• sentimentless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sentiment¹

First recorded in 1325–75; from Medieval Latin sentīmentum, equivalent to Latin sentī(re) “to feel” + -mentum -ment; replacing Middle English sentement, from Old French, from Medieval Latin, as above

Word History and Origins

Origin of sentiment¹

C17: from Medieval Latin sentīmentum, from Latin sentīre to feel

Synonym Study

See opinion. Sentiment, sentimentality are terms for sensitiveness to emotional feelings. Sentiment is a sincere and refined sensibility, a tendency to be influenced by emotion rather than reason or fact: to appeal to sentiment. Sentimentality implies affected, excessive, sometimes mawkish sentiment: weak sentimentality.

Example Sentences

“As stocks have climbed, earnings have risen alongside, indicating the rally is grounded in fundamentals, not just sentiment,” he said.

Read more on Barron's

That comes despite weak sentiment in the industry as uncertainty remains high, and surveys indicating manufacturers are reluctant to replace job leavers and some are considering scaling back staffing.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The first reading of the consumer sentiment survey in October was basically flat at 55.0, the University of Michigan said Friday.

Read more on MarketWatch

Economic sentiment remained grim but held steady near recent levels in October as a federal shutdown hampered government functions and sidelined thousands of workers, according to the University of Michigan’s latest consumer survey.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“ZEW sentiment data on Tuesday is expected to soften, with the focus on whether weaker current conditions dampen optimistic expectations,” Patrick Munnelly, Tickmill Group’s market strategy partner, said in a note.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• attitude 
• bias 
• feeling 
• idea 
• opinion 
• passion 
• position 
• tendency 
• thought 
• view 

When To Use

What are other ways to say sentiment?

A sentiment is a mental feeling or tender emotion, or a thought proceeding from feeling or emotion. How is it different from feeling, emotion, and passion? Find out on Thesaurus.com.