sensate

American  

[sen-seyt] / ˈsɛn seɪt /

adjective

1. perceiving or perceived through the senses.

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sensate British  

/ ˈsɛnseɪt /

adjective

1. perceived by the senses

2. obsolete having the power of sensation

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Other Word Forms

• nonsensate adjective
• sensately adverb
• unsensate adjective

Etymology

Origin of sensate

From the Late Latin word sēnsātus, dating back to 1490–1500. See sense, -ate ¹

Explanation

When your dog yelps when a toddler pulls its tail, you know that your dog is a sensate creature. Something that is sensate has feelings or can be felt. You can use this adjective for things that you can sense physically, or for people who have the ability to perceive such things. You could say that humans are sensate but robots aren't (yet). Or describe a loud rock concert as an overwhelming sensate experience. Sensate comes from the Late Latin word sensatus, "gifted with sense or perception." It gained popularity as an adjective in the 1930s, when sociologists began using it.

Example Sentences

Find moments in your busy life to embrace the beauty of being a living, sentient, thoughtful, sensate organism.

From Slate • Dec. 9, 2025

By that time, we know Lenin has not survived, and we know that this is less the story of a sensate apartment than it is the story of a ghost.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 27, 2023

“The whole goal is by the time she’s done with all this, it looks good, it’s sensate, and in five years if somebody doesn’t know her they won’t notice,” Dr. Johnson said.

From Washington Times • May 10, 2018

What could save its most enigmatic, sensate and sentient animal?

From The Guardian • May 5, 2018

Mystery still hung over the house of Eben Tollman an hour or two later, but the two figures that had sat with the quietness of unaccomplished death were again sensate and restored to full consciousness.

From The Tyranny of Weakness by Stahr, Paul