sensibility definition - Dictionary

Dictionary

sen·si·bil·i·ty [ sènssə bíllətee ]

noun

Definition:

1. capacity to respond: the capacity to respond emotionally or aesthetically

a literary sensibility

2. capacity to feel: the capacity to perceive or feel

3. botany capacity of plants for response: the sensitivity of plants to external stimuli

plural noun sen·si·bil·i·ties

Definition:

moral scruples: sensitivity about moral or ethical issues

careful not to offend their sensibilities

Word Usage


	sensibility or sensitivity? Sensitivity is used in ways corresponding to the meanings of the adjective sensitive, and is mainly concerned with physical or emotional reactions of various kinds: a sensitivity to bright light. Sensibility is less closely related in meaning to sensible than sensitivity is to sensitive, and chiefly denotes somebody's capacity to respond emotionally or aesthetically, as in poetry that appealed to his sensibility.