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sensibly

UK/ˈsɛnsəbli/US/ˈsɛnsəbli/
adverbB1+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,540 of 15,258leans spoken

Sensibly means in a way that shows good practical judgement. The obvious right thing, done without fuss.

It attaches to dressing, spending and deciding, so dressing sensibly for the weather is what everybody's mother said. There is a mild British edge to it, since sensible shoes are practical and unglamorous, and calling an outfit sensible is not a compliment. The adjective sensible is a false friend in several European languages, where the cognate means sensitive, and that trips people up constantly.

Definitions of sensibly

  1. 1adverbsensiblyIn a way that shows good practical judgement.B1+

    “They very sensibly booked the tickets in advance.”

Where it comes from

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *sent-

  2. Latin

    sēnsibilis — perceptible by the senses, having feeling, sensible

  3. English

    sensible

  4. English, today

    sensibly

Built from

  • sentiō · Latin — to feel, perceive

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 18 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

sensibly in the wild

  • No special vehicle modifications are required to enter, any sensibly equipped 4x4 should be able to complete the event.

    Macmillan 4x4 UK Challenge

  • As the area of the unit is sensibly independent of height the mass of the unit can be optimised for all stages of the production and construction process.

    Honeycomb sea wall

  • Whilst he did consume alcohol, he was never drunk; and whilst not a brilliant orator, he always talked sensibly, "one of nature's gentlemen".

    John Ferguson (Australian politician)

  • Described as bolding "steadily and sensibly", in 1940 he took six wickets in the college's victory against Harrow.

    David Gray (cricketer)

  • The American Law Institute Model Penal Code expresses "skepticism that any fine line can be drawn states a fine line between justification and excuse can sensibly be drawn...

    Justification and excuse

1 / 2

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the sentiō family

sentenceconsentsensiblescent

sensibly — used about once every 13,896 pages · #12,540 · point at the bar for the others