Sense vs. Sensibility: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Updated on December 25, 2023
Sense refers to the faculty of perception or a practical and realistic approach, while Sensibility involves the capacity to feel or perceive, often linked with emotional responsiveness.
Key Differences
Sense often implies practicality and rationality, involving logic and a realistic understanding of situations. Sensibility, in contrast, is more about emotional awareness and the ability to perceive and respond to subtle feelings or aesthetic qualities.
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Nov 28, 2023
In decision-making, having sense means using logic and reason to reach conclusions, focusing on practical and effective solutions. Sensibility involves being attuned to emotions and moral considerations, sometimes leading to decisions based more on feelings than on rational analysis.
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Nov 28, 2023
Sense can also refer to the physical faculties of perception, such as sight, hearing, or smell. Sensibility, however, often points to a refined or acute awareness, especially in artistic or cultural matters, appreciating nuances that may elude a purely logical approach.
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Nov 28, 2023
In literature, characters described as having 'sense' are often pragmatic and grounded in reality. Characters with 'sensibility', on the other hand, are typically more emotional, empathetic, and sensitive to their surroundings and the feelings of others.
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Nov 28, 2023
Sense in everyday language is associated with sound judgment and practicality. Sensibility is more aligned with sensitivity, often being used to describe an individual's capacity for emotional depth and empathy.
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Nov 28, 2023
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Comparison Chart
Definition
Perception or practical approach
Capacity to feel or emotional responsiveness
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Decision-making
Based on logic and reason
Influenced by emotions and moral considerations
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In Literature
Pragmatic, grounded characters
Emotional, empathetic characters
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In Everyday Language
Associated with practicality and judgment
Associated with emotional depth and empathy
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Nov 28, 2023
In Art and Culture
Perception through physical faculties
Refined awareness of aesthetics and emotions
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Nov 28, 2023
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Sense and Sensibility Definitions
Sensibility
Refined awareness of feelings
He has a great sensibility for others' emotions.
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Nov 28, 2023
Sensibility
Susceptibility to aesthetic influences
The film appealed to his artistic sensibility.
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Sense
Any of the faculties by which stimuli from outside or inside the body are received and felt, as the faculties of hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste, and equilibrium.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sensibility
Mental or emotional responsiveness, especially in being offended or in having one's feelings hurt
"The earthy humor of many of the ballads deeply offended her sensibilities" (Anne Stott).
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
A perception or feeling produced by a stimulus; sensation
A sense of fatigue and hunger.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sensibility
The capacity to respond intelligently to refined emotions, especially in art
"They celebrated deeds that fit stereotyped images of noble valor, making the writing flat and tedious to modern sensibilities" (David A. Bell).
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
Senses The faculties of sensation as means of providing physical gratification and pleasure.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sensibility
The ability to sense, feel or perceive; responsiveness to sensory stimuli; sensitivity.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
An intuitive or acquired perception or ability to estimate
A sense of diplomatic timing.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sensibility
Emotional or artistic awareness; keen sensitivity to matters of feeling or creative expression.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sensibility
Excessive emotional awareness; the fact or quality of being overemotional.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sensibility
(in the plural) An acute awareness or feeling.
I apologize if I offended your sensibilities, but that's the truth of the matter.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
Recognition or perception either through the senses or through the intellect; consciousness
Has no sense of shame.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
Natural understanding or intelligence, especially in practical matters
The boy had sense and knew just what to do when he got lost.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sensibility
The quality or state of being sensible, or capable of sensation; capacity to feel or perceive.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
Often senses The normal ability to think or reason soundly
Have you taken leave of your senses?.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sensibility
The capacity of emotion or feeling, as distinguished from the intellect and the will; peculiar susceptibility of impression, pleasurable or painful; delicacy of feeling; quick emotion or sympathy; as, sensibility to pleasure or pain; sensibility to shame or praise; exquisite sensibility; - often used in the plural.
The true lawgiver ought to have a heart full of sensibility.
His sensibilities seem rather to have been those of patriotism than of wounded pride.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
Something sound or reasonable
There's no sense in waiting three hours.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sensibility
Experience of sensation; actual feeling.
This adds greatly to my sensibility.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
A meaning that is conveyed, as in speech or writing; signification
The sense of the criticism is that the proposal has certain risks.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sensibility
That quality of an instrument which makes it indicate very slight changes of condition; delicacy; as, the sensibility of a balance, or of a thermometer.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
Judgment; consensus
Sounding out the sense of the electorate on capital punishment.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sensibility
Refined sensitivity to pleasurable or painful impressions;
Cruelty offended his sensibility
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Sense
Intellectual interpretation, as of the significance of an event or the conclusions reached by a group
I came away from the meeting with the sense that we had resolved all outstanding issues.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sensibility
(physiology) responsiveness to external stimuli;
Sensitivity to pain
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
To become aware of; perceive
Organisms able to sense their surroundings.
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Sensibility
Capacity for refined feeling
Her musical sensibility is exceptional.
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Nov 28, 2023
Sense
To grasp; understand
Sensed that the financial situation would improve.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sensibility
Acute perception in a specific realm
Her cultural sensibility is very developed.
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Nov 28, 2023
Sense
(Genetics) Of or relating to the portion of the strand of double-stranded DNA that serves as a template for and is transcribed into RNA.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
Any of the manners by which living beings perceive the physical world: for humans sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
Perception through the intellect; apprehension; awareness.
A sense of security
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
Sound practical or moral judgment.
It's common sense not to put metal objects in a microwave oven.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
Any particular meaning of a word, among its various meanings.
Word sense disambiguation
The true sense of words or phrases
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
(semantics) A single conventional use of a word; one of the entries for a word in a dictionary.
The word set has various senses.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
(mathematics) One of two opposite directions in which a vector (especially of motion) may point. See also polarity.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
(mathematics) One of two opposite directions of rotation, clockwise versus anti-clockwise.
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Sense
(biochemistry) referring to the strand of a nucleic acid that directly specifies the product.
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Sense
To use biological senses: to either see, hear, smell, taste, or feel.
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Sense
A faculty, possessed by animals, of perceiving external objects by means of impressions made upon certain organs (sensory or sense organs) of the body, or of perceiving changes in the condition of the body; as, the senses of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. See Muscular sense, under Muscular, and Temperature sense, under Temperature.
Let fancy still my sense in Lethe steep.
What surmounts the reachOf human sense I shall delineate.
The traitor Sense recallsThe soaring soul from rest.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
Perception by the sensory organs of the body; sensation; sensibility; feeling.
In a living creature, though never so great, the sense and the affects of any one part of the body instantly make a transcursion through the whole.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
Perception through the intellect; apprehension; recognition; understanding; discernment; appreciation.
This Basilius, having the quick sense of a lover.
High disdain from sense of injured merit.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
Sound perception and reasoning; correct judgment; good mental capacity; understanding; also, that which is sound, true, or reasonable; rational meaning.
He raves; his words are looseAs heaps of sand, and scattering wide from sense.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
That which is felt or is held as a sentiment, view, or opinion; judgment; notion; opinion.
I speak my private but impartial senseWith freedom.
The municipal council of the city had ceased to speak the sense of the citizens.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
Meaning; import; signification; as, the true sense of words or phrases; the sense of a remark.
So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense.
I think 't was in another sense.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
Moral perception or appreciation.
Some are so hardened in wickedness as to have no sense of the most friendly offices.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
One of two opposite directions in which a line, surface, or volume, may be supposed to be described by the motion of a point, line, or surface.
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
To perceive by the senses; to recognize.
Is he sure that objects are not otherwise sensed by others than they are by him?
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
A general conscious awareness;
A sense of security
A sense of happiness
A sense of danger
A sense of self
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
The meaning of a word or expression; the way in which a word or expression or situation can be interpreted;
The dictionary gave several senses for the word
In the best sense charity is really a duty
The signifier is linked to the signified
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
The faculty through which the external world is apprehended;
In the dark he had to depend on touch and on his senses of smell and hearing
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
Sound practical judgment;
I can't see the sense in doing it now
He hasn't got the sense God gave little green apples
Fortunately she had the good sense to run away
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
A natural appreciation or ability;
A keen musical sense
A good sense of timing
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
Perceive by a physical sensation, e.g., coming from the skin or muscles;
He felt the wind
She felt an object brushing her arm
He felt his flesh crawl
She felt the heat when she got out of the car
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Oct 19, 2023
Sense
Detect some circumstance or entity automatically;
This robot can sense the presence of people in the room
Particle detectors sense ionization
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Sense
Become aware of not through the senses but instinctively;
I sense his hostility
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Oct 19, 2023
Repeatedly Asked Queries
Does sense always mean practicality?
Often, but it can also refer to sensory perception.
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Nov 28, 2023
Can sensibility be learned?
While innate to some degree, it can be refined through experience and exposure to art and culture.
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Nov 28, 2023
Is having a good sense the same as intelligence?
Not necessarily; it’s more about practical wisdom and judgment.
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Nov 28, 2023
Does high sensibility mean being overly emotional?
Not always; it's more about depth of feeling and empathy.
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Nov 28, 2023
How does sensibility influence art appreciation?
It enhances the ability to perceive and respond to emotional and aesthetic qualities in art.
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Nov 28, 2023
Can someone be taught to have sensibility?
Exposure to diverse experiences can enhance one’s sensibility.
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Nov 28, 2023
Is sensibility important in relationships?
Yes, it aids in understanding and empathizing with others.
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Nov 28, 2023
Can businesses benefit from sense?
Yes, particularly in strategic planning and problem-solving.
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Nov 28, 2023
Does sensibility vary from person to person?
Yes, as it's influenced by individual experiences and temperament.
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Nov 28, 2023
Is common sense universal?
While widely valued, what's considered common sense can vary culturally.
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Nov 28, 2023
Is sense more important than sensibility?
The importance varies depending on the context.
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Nov 28, 2023
Can sense be misleading?
Yes, especially if not balanced with other considerations.
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Nov 28, 2023
Should decisions be based solely on sense?
A balance of sense and sensibility often leads to well-rounded decisions.
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Nov 28, 2023
Are sense and sensibility opposites?
Not necessarily; they can complement each other.
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Nov 28, 2023
Can a leader benefit from sensibility?
Yes, it can enhance empathy and understanding of team dynamics.
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Nov 28, 2023
Is being sensible the same as being sensitive?
Being sensible is more about practicality, while being sensitive relates more to emotional response.
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Nov 28, 2023
Is sensibility important in education?
It can enrich learning, particularly in the arts and humanities.
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Nov 28, 2023
Can a lack of sense lead to problems?
Yes, especially in practical or dangerous situations.
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Nov 28, 2023
How does sensibility affect creativity?
It can deepen artistic expression and appreciation.
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Nov 28, 2023
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About Author
Written by
Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.
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