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Definition of "sentient" [sen•ti•ent]

  • Having sense perception; conscious: "The living knew themselves just sentient puppets on God's stage” ( T.E. Lawrence). (adjective)
  • Experiencing sensation or feeling. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "sentient" in a sentence
  • "On Kierkegaard's religious views, Sartre offers the usual argument against existence of God: If existence precedes essence, it follows from the meaning of the term sentient that a sentient being cannot be complete or perfect."
  • "Of course it is circular in the sense that, based on my proffered definition, since intelligence ultimately permeates all aspects of being, what we call sentient beings (life forms) are simply different manifestations of intelligence playing with itself, or as one old text puts it in the title: 'You are the Eyes of the Universe.'"
  • "Being aware that Bush and his bunch are barely sentient is not being against America, it is being for what is used to stand for."