sensibility
noun
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The meanings of sensibility run the gamut from mere sensation to excessive sentimentality. In between is a capacity for delicate appreciation, a sense often pluralized. In Jane Austen's books, sensibility is mostly an admirable quality she attributes to, or finds lacking in, her characters: "He had ... a sensibility to what was amiable and lovely" (of Mr. Elliot in Persuasion). In Sense and Sensibility, however, Austen starts out by ascribing to Marianne sensibleness, on the one hand, but an "excess of sensibility" on the other: "Her sorrows, her joys, could have no moderation ... she was everything but prudent."
Examples of sensibility in a Sentence
Jelani Cobb, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025
Pottery Barn Scallop Throw $59 Pottery Barn Teen The casual scalloped detailing woven into the Pottery Barn Teen throw gives it a darling sensibility.
—Yelena Moroz Alpert, Architectural Digest, 26 Apr. 2025
Most teams in the four to 15 range had similar sensibilities, and the overtures the Jags received from teams later in the round weren’t overly enticing.
—Michael Silver, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2025
Winkler brings a modern sensibility to this icon while honoring its historic soul.
—Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, 24 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sensibility
Cite this Entry
“Sensibility.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sensibility. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
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sensibility
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