subjective

[suhb-jek-tiv]

See more synonyms for subjective on Thesaurus.com

adjective

existing in the mind; belonging to the thinking subject rather than to the object of thought (opposed to objective).
pertaining to or characteristic of an individual; personal; individual: a subjective evaluation.
placing excessive emphasis on one's own moods, attitudes, opinions, etc.; unduly egocentric.

Philosophy. relating to or of the nature of an object as it is known in the mind as distinct from a thing in itself.
relating to properties or specific conditions of the mind as distinguished from general or universal experience.
pertaining to the subject or substance in which attributes inhere; essential.
Grammar.
1. pertaining to or constituting the subject of a sentence.
2. (in English and certain other languages) noting a case specialized for that use, as He in He hit the ball.
3. similar to such a case in meaning.Compare nominative.
Obsolete. characteristic of a political subject; submissive.

Origin of subjective

1400–50; late Middle English: pertaining to a subject of a ruler < Latin subjectīvus; see subject, -ive

Related formssub·jec·tive·ly, adverbsub·jec·tive·ness, nounnon·sub·jec·tive, adjectivenon·sub·jec·tive·ly, adverbnon·sub·jec·tive·ness, nounqua·si-sub·jec·tive, adjectivequa·si-sub·jec·tive·ly, adverbun·sub·jec·tive, adjectiveun·sub·jec·tive·ly, adverb

Synonyms for subjective

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com

1. mental. 6. substantial, inherent.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for subjective

biased, intuitive, personal, abstract, illusory, instinctive, idiosyncratic, fanciful, individual, introspective, introverted, prejudiced, nonobjective, nonrepresentative, unobjective

Examples from the Web for subjective

Contemporary Examples of subjective

The whole goal is to create an effective experience of fear, which is subjective.
Sex, Blood, and Screaming: Blackout’s Dark Frights
Tim Teeman
October 7, 2014
Unless you can find good criticism, which is hard to do, because you get too subjective.
Al Pacino Does What He Wants to Do: 'The Humbling,' Scorsese, and That 'Scarface' Remake
Alex Suskind
September 9, 2014
The subjective and unverifiable nature of pain is one of the most challenging aspects of managing it.
DEA's Painkiller Crackdown Too Little, Too Late?
Russell Saunders
August 27, 2014
These results, of course, are subjective and totally unscientific.
Are Water Filters B.S.?
Michael Schulson
August 19, 2014
“The subject area in question is subjective and ambiguous,” he wrote.
Fired From Los Alamos for Pushing Obama's Nuclear Agenda
Center for Public Integrity
July 31, 2014

Historical Examples of subjective

This was the subjective which corresponded to the objective 'All is flux.'
Theaetetus
Plato
There are three subjective principles of morals,—sympathy, benevolence, self-love.
Philebus
Plato
No one saw that this objective was really a subjective, and involved the subjectivity of all knowledge.
Timaeus
Plato
But the ideas themselves are not subjective, and therefore are not within our ken.'
Parmenides
Plato
This it is not; it has an objective existence, but no subjective.
Essays, Second Series
Ralph Waldo Emerson

British Dictionary definitions for subjective

subjective

adjective

belonging to, proceeding from, or relating to the mind of the thinking subject and not the nature of the object being considered
of, relating to, or emanating from a person's emotions, prejudices, etcsubjective views
relating to the inherent nature of a person or thing; essential
existing only as perceived and not as a thing in itself
med (of a symptom, condition, etc) experienced only by the patient and incapable of being recognized or studied by anyone else
grammar denoting a case of nouns and pronouns, esp in languages having only two cases, that identifies the subject of a finite verb and (in formal use in English) is selected for predicate complements, as in It is ISee also nominative (def. 1)

noun

grammar
1. the subjective case
2. a subjective word or speech element

Abbreviation: subj

Compare objective (def. 10)

Derived Formssubjectively, adverbsubjectivity or subjectiveness, noun

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 subjective

adj.

mid-15c., "pertaining to a political subject" (now obsolete), from Late Latin subjectivus, from subjectus (see subject (n.)). Meaning "existing in the mind" (mind="the thinking subject") is from 1707; thus, "personal idiosyncratic" (1767). Related: Subjectively.

subjective in Medicine

subjective

[səb-jĕk′tĭv]

adj.

Of, relating to, or designating a symptom or condition perceived by the patient and not by the examiner.
Existing only in the mind; illusory.