subjectivity
Americannoun
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the state or quality of being subjective; subjectiveness.
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a subjective thought or idea.
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intentness on internal thoughts.
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internal reality.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of subjectivity
First recorded in 1805–15; subjective + -ity; probably modeled on German Subjectivität
Explanation
Subjectivity refers to how someone’s judgment is shaped by personal opinions and feelings instead of outside influences. Subjectivity is partially responsible for why one person loves an abstract painting while another person hates it. Since a subject is a person, subjectivity refers to how a person's own uniqueness influences their perceptions. For example, if you have six sisters, that might influence how you view women or families — it's part of your subjectivity. Subjectivity is a form of bias and also individuality. Subjectivity is the opposite of objectivity, which is based purely on the facts and isn't personal. We expect judges to put aside their subjectivity and make decisions based on objectivity.
Vocabulary lists containing subjectivity
Media Literacy - High School
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Reading: Informational - High School
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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.
See Examples For:
The court’s language frames the issue as biology vs. identity, objectivity vs. subjectivity, reality vs. fiction.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
"Bringing these two fields together can open up for a more holistic psychology, in which both neurological mechanisms and subjective experience are included. In this way, we can understand subjectivity in a more scientific manner."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 1, 2026
She voiced frustration over the subjectivity that she says now shapes the process.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
“Kalshi is replacing debate, subjectivity, and talk with markets, accuracy, and truth,” Chief Executive Tarek Mansour said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 2, 2025
The intensely personal nature of his business, the subjectivity of taste, the variables of light and curtains and carpets, guaranteed that minds would reevaluate and work would have to be redone.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
Furthermore, the album engages with Berlant's concept of gendered subjectivities, which emphasizes the fluid and performative nature of identity.
From Salon ● Apr. 11, 2024
He’s done his homework, yes, but like any good writer he pushes himself to explore his various characters’ subjectivities as far as it’s possible to go.
From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2020
A Shakespeare play is not a political statement, it’s a mosh pit of subjectivities, and here the audience was expected to sit back and rationally parse a theatrical Rorschach blot.
From New York Times ● Mar. 11, 2020
“Awareness that one’s self possesses multiple possible subjectivities or identities resists categorization,” he writes.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 18, 2018
Following Clifford, I will call these inferred subjectivities by the name of ejects, and assign to them the symbol y.
From Mind and Motion and Monism by Romanes, George John
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.
