sensible

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈsɛn.sə.bəl/ UK /ˈsɛn.sɪ.bəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #6074

Meanings

1

adj
Showing good judgement; reasonable and practical.

Buying a small, cheap car was a sensible choice for a student.
2

adj
Useful and practical rather than attractive or fashionable, especially of clothing.

For the long hike she wore sensible shoes instead of heels.
3

adj
Aware of something through feeling or understanding.

I was made sensible of my mistakes by my teacher.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · showing good judgement;... reasonable

Word family

Forms sensibles

Derived forms commonsensibleelectrosensibleextrasensiblenonsensibleoversensiblesensibilizationsensiblenesssensiblysubsensiblesuprasensibleunsensible

Related forms sense sensitive sensory sensual sensuoussupersensible

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

sensible horizon
the apparent line where the land or sea meets the sky

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Sensible entered English in the late Middle Ages and ultimately derives from Latin sentire, “to feel or perceive.” It belongs to the same historical family as sense, sensation, sensitive, sensory, sentence, and scent.

Etymology

From Latin sēnsibilis (“perceptible by the senses, having feeling, sensible”), from sentiō (“to feel, perceive”).

*sent- Proto-Indo-European sēnsibilis Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# sensible

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈsɛn.sə.bəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈsɛn.sɪ.bəl/
**Frequency rank:** 6074

## Meanings
1. Showing good judgement; reasonable and practical.
2. Useful and practical rather than attractive or fashionable, especially of clothing.
3. Aware of something through feeling or understanding.

## Examples
- Buying a small, cheap car was a sensible choice for a student.
- For the long hike she wore sensible shoes instead of heels.
- I was made sensible of my mistakes by my teacher.

## Derived Forms
- commonsensible
- electrosensible
- extrasensible
- nonsensible
- oversensible
- sensibilization
- sensibleness
- sensibly
- subsensible
- suprasensible
- unsensible

## Related Forms
- sense
- sensitive
- sensory
- sensual
- sensuous
- supersensible

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *sent-
- Root: sēnsibilis

## Etymology
From Latin sēnsibilis (“perceptible by the senses, having feeling, sensible”), from sentiō (“to feel, perceive”).

## AI Etymology
Sensible is from Latin sēnsibilis (“perceptible by the senses, having feeling, sensible”), from sentiō (“to feel, perceive”). Important forms in the word's history include Proto-Indo-European *sent-, Latin sēnsibilis. In current use it includes senses such as Showing good judgement; reasonable and practical and Useful and practical rather than attractive or fashionable, especially of clothing.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

markdown