sensibility

UK: /ˌsɛnsɪˈbɪləti/ US: /ˌsɛnsəˈbɪlɪti/ ,(sen′sə bil′i tē)

Inflections of 'sensibility' (n): npl: sensibilities

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

sen•si•bil•i•ty /ˌsɛnsəˈbɪlɪti/   n., pl. -ties. 

1. [uncountable] capacity for feeling;
   responsiveness to stimuli.
2. [uncountable] mental responsiveness, esp. to subtle feelings.
3. Often, sensibilities. [plural] capacity to respond to blame or praise:
   a harmless remark that offended his sensibilities.
4. Often, sensibilities. [plural] capacity for discrimination:
   a person of refined sensibilities.

See -sens-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

sen•si•bil•i•ty  (sen′sə bil′i tē), n., pl. -ties. 

1. capacity for sensation or feeling;
   responsiveness or susceptibility to sensory stimuli.
2. mental susceptibility or responsiveness;
   quickness and acuteness of apprehension or feeling.
3. keen consciousness or appreciation.
4. sensibilities, emotional capacities.
5. Sometimes, sensibilities. liability to feel hurt or offended;
   sensitive feelings.
6. Often, sensibilities. capacity for intellectual and aesthetic distinctions, feelings, tastes, etc.:
   a man of refined sensibilities.
7. the property, as in plants or instruments, of being readily affected by external influences.

• Late Latin sēnsibilitās. See sensible, -ity
• Middle French
• Middle English sensibilite 1325–75

Synonyms

• 1. Sensibility, susceptibility, sensitiveness, sensitivity refer to capacity to respond to or be affected by something.
  Sensibility is, particularly, capacity to respond to aesthetic and emotional stimuli:
  the sensibility of the artist.
  Susceptibility is the state or quality of being impressionable and responsive, esp. to emotional stimuli; in the plural it has much the same meaning as sensibility:
  a person of keen susceptibilities.
  Sensitiveness is the state or quality of being sensitive, of having a capacity of sensation and of responding to external stimuli:
  sensitiveness to light.
  Sensitivity is a special capability of being sensitive to physiological, chemical action or a tendency to be easily affected by the adverse reactions of others:
  the sensitivity of a nerve; sensitivity to criticism.
• 2. alertness, awareness.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

sensibility / ˌsɛnsɪˈbɪlɪtɪ/ noun ( -ties)

1. the ability to perceive or feel
2. (often plural) the capacity for responding to emotion, impression, etc
3. (often plural) the capacity for responding to aesthetic stimuli
4. mental responsiveness; discernment; awareness
5. (usually plural) emotional or moral feelings: cruelty offends most people's sensibilities