sentient

American  

[sen-shuhnt, ‐shee-uhnt, ‐tee-uhnt] / ˈsɛn ʃənt, ‐ʃi ənt, ‐ti ənt /

adjective

1. having the power of perception by the senses; conscious.

2. characterized by sensation and consciousness.

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noun

1. a person or thing that is sentient.

2. Archaic. the conscious mind.

sentient British  

/ ˈsɛntɪənt /

adjective

1. having the power of sense perception or sensation; conscious

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noun

1. rare a sentient person or thing

Other Word Forms

• nonsentient adjective
• nonsentiently adverb
• sentiently adverb
• unsentient adjective
• unsentiently adverb

Etymology

Origin of sentient

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Latin sentient-, stem of sentiēns “feeling,” present participle of sentīre “to feel” cf. sense ( def. )

Explanation

Someone sentient is able to feel things, or sense them. Sentient usually occurs in phrases like "sentient beings" and "sentient creatures," making it clear that things that don’t have life don’t have feelings. Explain that to a pet rock. Sentient comes from the Latin sentient-, "feeling," and it describes things that are alive, able to feel and perceive, and show awareness or responsiveness. Having senses makes something sentient, or able to smell, communicate, touch, see, or hear. Whether or not plants and living things other than animals and people are sentient depends on whom you ask.

Example Sentences

No, I don’t mean that your children will soon be disciplined by chatbots or diaper-changed by sentient robots.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026

Grace will eventually make an alien friend, a five-limbed spider-shaped sentient rock he names Rocky.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026

I don’t see why any sentient person would watch one of these things unless they had to, or enjoyed pain.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 24, 2026

“This marks not just the next chapter, but the next book in SpaceX and xAI’s mission: scaling to make a sentient sun to understand the Universe and extend the light of consciousness to the stars!”

From Barron's • Feb. 2, 2026

Later Yen taught us, ‘After life, the rational soul ascends the dragon; the sentient soul descends the dragon. So in the world there can be no ghosts. This thing must have been a Fox Spirit.’

From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston