sensibility
sensibility Lexical Profile
sensibility Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The quality of being able to appreciate and respond to complex emotional, moral, or aesthetic influences; refined awareness or artistic taste.
"The director's modern sensibility brought fresh energy to the classic nineteenth-century play."
A person's delicate emotional feelings or moral standards that are easily offended, shocked, or hurt (usually used in the plural).
"The graphic scenes in the documentary offended the sensibilities of several viewers."
The biological or physical capacity to feel or perceive stimuli through the senses.
"The neurologist tested the patient's sensibility to heat and light touch along the affected limb."
Word Nuance & Usage
In modern English, 'sensibility' refers to emotional, aesthetic, or moral responsiveness rather than practical 'common sense' (which corresponds to the adjective 'sensible'), and it differs from 'sensitivity' by emphasizing refined artistic or intellectual appreciation rather than raw vulnerability.
• Rhymes for sensibility
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 14th century from Old French 'sensibilite', from Late Latin 'sensibilitas' ('capacity for sensation'), derived from Latin 'sensibilis' ('perceptible to the senses'), from 'sentire' ('to feel or perceive').