experience
Americannoun
-
experiences
plural
-
a particular instance of personally encountering or undergoing something.
My encounter with the bear in the woods was a frightening experience.
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the process or fact of personally observing, encountering, or undergoing something.
business experience.
-
the observing, encountering, or undergoing of things generally as they occur in the course of time.
to learn from experience; the range of human experience.
-
knowledge or practical wisdom gained from what one has observed, encountered, or undergone.
a man of experience.
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Philosophy. the totality of the cognitions given by perception; all that is perceived, understood, and remembered.
verb (used with object)
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experiences,
present (3rd person singular)
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experienced,
past participle, past
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experiencing
present participle
idioms
noun
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direct personal participation or observation; actual knowledge or contact
experience of prison life
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a particular incident, feeling, etc, that a person has undergone
an experience to remember
-
accumulated knowledge, esp of practical matters
a man of experience
-
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the totality of characteristics, both past and present, that make up the particular quality of a person, place, or people
-
the impact made on an individual by the culture of a people, nation, etc
the American experience
-
-
philosophy
-
the content of a perception regarded as independent of whether the apparent object actually exists Compare sense datum
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the faculty by which a person acquires knowledge of contingent facts about the world, as contrasted with reason
-
the totality of a person's perceptions, feelings, and memories
-
verb
-
to participate in or undergo
-
to be emotionally or aesthetically moved by; feel
to experience beauty
Usage
What is another way to say experience? To experience something is to meet with it or feel it firsthand. How is experience different from undergo? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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preexperiencenoun
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reexperienceverb
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experienceableadjective
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experiencelessadjective
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postexperienceadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
experiencesimple
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experiencessimple
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have experiencedperfect
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has experiencedperfect
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am experiencingprogressive
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are experiencingprogressive
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is experiencingprogressive
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have been experiencingperfect progressive
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has been experiencingperfect progressive
Past
-
experiencedsimple
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had experiencedperfect
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was experiencingprogressive
-
were experiencingprogressive
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had been experiencingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of experience
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, Middle French, from Latin experientia, equivalent to experient- (stem of experiēns, past participle of experīrī “to try, test”; see ex- 1, peril) + -ia noun suffix; see -ence
Explanation
If you experience something, you go through an unusual or exciting event. If you're experiencing the world's loopiest roller coaster, you'd better hope that the amusement park doesn't experience a power outage. Sometimes experience means accumulated knowledge and sometimes it refers to a single spectacular event. If you have experience in cooking, you have worked in a restaurant before. Learning by experience is a method of acquiring knowledge by doing and not by reading. On the other hand, when you come back from summer camp, your mom will want to hear about your experiences. And white-water rafting is quite an unforgettable experience.
Vocabulary lists containing experience
"Seventh Grade" by Gary Soto
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Michelle Obama's Speech at the 2016 DNC
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Schooled
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Zipporah Bennett, an 85-year-old retiree, said she was voting for Netanyahu "because he has had the experience of navigating the country through a lot of difficult seasons".
From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026
Ian Barthorpe, visitor experience officer at Minsmere, said the team was concerned about the long-term implications the fire.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
In my experience, most people in their 40s have never sat down and figured this out, which means they’re saving toward a target they’ve never defined.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026
The technology, he often says, should enhance the human experience, not supplant it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
My only other business experience was a short-lived lemonade stand with Skye and Madi a few years back.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
Between my own experiences over 70 years and those of others, including you, it is clear that history is a great teacher.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026
"I've always believed that young people deserve the opportunity to learn from those experiences, grow and become better people."
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
Yet despite all those new experiences, the core vision for this album remained unchanged.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
Lyris, who is now married with children and generally quite happy, experiences vivid hallucinations of “ghost fire.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
Instead, improvisation can be taught to some degree in that it requires a set of tools and prior experiences from which to draw.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
Basic pay for consultants starts at £113,500 a year with the most experienced paid £150,500.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
As in many of the attractions, he’s based on a real person who experienced certain events.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
Among patients who consistently followed their treatment plans, the intervention group experienced an 11% lower incidence of major cardiovascular events compared with the comparator group.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2026
The second kind is a transactional friendship, like the one a reader experienced at his golf club with an adviser who was always scouting for clients.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 25, 2026
Abigail ran though the bayou alone, so no one could really say what she experienced.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Cricket, long regarded in the U.K. as the game of the upper classes, is experiencing a revival—without some of its famously haughty traditions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
"Families who are experiencing that kind of poverty are likely to be going without many of the basics."
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
It’s disarming and occasionally exhausting, but that’s the point: If such repetitive heaviness is difficult for the viewer, imagine how it is for the person experiencing it.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2026
“Meanwhile, the Kerman Food Bank and other local organizations are experiencing food shortages as families face fear and uncertainty caused by recent immigration enforcement actions,” Pacheco wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
When Bobby was experiencing severe pain in his legs, Skulason began to massage them, using the back of his hand.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
