sense
a general conscious awareness
How often you will meet it
Rank 480 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 42,764 times across 155,370 chapters — 0.020% of every word in the library.
It belongs to the first 500 words, the band worth learning before any other.
What it means
noun
- a general conscious awareness a sense of securitya sense of happiness
- the meaning of a word or expression; the way in which a word or expression or situation can be interpreted also: signified the dictionary gave several senses for the wordin the best sense charity is really a duty
- the faculty through which the external world is apprehended also: sensation, sentience, sentiency, sensory faculty in the dark he had to depend on touch and on his senses of smell and hearing
- sound practical judgment also: common sense, good sense, gumption, horse sense, mother wit Common sense is not so commonhe hasn't got the sense God gave little green apples
- a natural appreciation or ability a keen musical sensea good sense of timing
verb
- perceive by a physical sensation, e.g., coming from the skin or muscles also: feel He felt the windShe felt an object brushing her arm
- detect some circumstance or entity automatically This robot can sense the presence of people in the roomparticle detectors sense ionization
- become aware of not through the senses but instinctively also: smell, smell out I sense his hostilityI smell trouble
sense in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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We have lost the abstract sense of beauty.
The Picture of Dorian Gray · Oscar Wilde · Chapter 1
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Ethan had the sense of having done something arch and ingenious.
Ethan Frome · Edith Wharton · Chapter 1
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With a shudder, a sense of dread indescribable, she remembered this.
Christian's Mistake · Dinah Maria Mulock Craik · Chapter 1
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As he bathed and dressed his sense of strangeness grew, and he understood why.
The Abandoned Room · Wadsworth Camp · Chapter 1
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With the presence of Mr. Inglethorp, a sense of constraint and veiled hostility seemed to settle down upon the company.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles · Agatha Christie · Chapter 1