sentience
noun
sen·tience
ˈsen(t)-sh(ē-)ən(t)s 
ˈsen-tē-ən(t)s
1
: a sentient quality or state
2
: feeling or sensation as distinguished from perception and thought
Examples of sentience in a Sentence
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The 78-year-old Gore, who served as vice president with President Clinton from 1993 to 2001 and is now chairman of Generation Investment Management, seemed to align himself with some of the youngest AI users in this take on silicon sentience.
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Rob Pegoraro, PC Magazine, 9 Apr. 2026
When a future model writes something on the scale of War and Peace or The Lord of the Rings, denying it sentience will grow harder.
—Shai Tubali, Big Think, 27 Mar. 2026
Maybe machine intelligence doesn’t require sentience, or autonomy, or curiosity, or feeling.
—Charles Yu, The Atlantic, 5 Mar. 2026
On the sentience of plants Plants can see, which is a weird idea.
—Terry Gross, NPR, 19 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sentience
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Rob Pegoraro, PC Magazine, 9 Apr. 2026
When a future model writes something on the scale of War and Peace or The Lord of the Rings, denying it sentience will grow harder.
—Shai Tubali, Big Think, 27 Mar. 2026
Maybe machine intelligence doesn’t require sentience, or autonomy, or curiosity, or feeling.
—Charles Yu, The Atlantic, 5 Mar. 2026
On the sentience of plants Plants can see, which is a weird idea.
—Terry Gross, NPR, 19 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sentience
Cite this Entry
“Sentience.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sentience. Accessed 12 Apr. 2026.
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