sensibility
Definitions
The ability to appreciate and respond to complex emotional or aesthetic influences; refined awareness
感受力，鉴赏力（对情感或审美的敏锐感知）
(usually plural) a person's feelings, especially when easily offended
（常用复数）情感，感情（尤指容易被冒犯的）
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedBuilt on sensible's older meaning 'able to feel' (sens 'feel' + -ible 'able' + -ity 'quality'). Note the trap: sensibility is NOT the noun of modern sensible ('practical, level-headed'). It keeps the older sense — a fine capacity for feeling. So 'artistic sensibility' is a refined ability to feel art, and 'offending someone's sensibilities' is wounding their delicate feelings.
Root sent still carries 33 more wordsCommon Collocations
- 1.artistic sensibility艺术感受力
- 2.moral sensibility道德情感
- 3.aesthetic sensibility审美感知
- 4.offend someone's sensibilities冒犯某人的情感
- 5.modern sensibility现代审美
Example Sentences
- 1.
Her poems reveal a delicate sensibility to color and sound.
- 2.
The film was edited to avoid offending religious sensibilities.
- 3.
He brought a modern sensibility to a centuries-old craft.
Easily Confused
sensibility vs sensitivity — Despite the look, sensibility is not 'the state of being sensible (practical).' It means a refined capacity to feel or appreciate (artistic sensibility). sensitivity is responsiveness — to stimuli, to others' feelings, or to delicate matters (sensitivity to criticism). Roughly: sensibility = taste and discernment; sensitivity = reactiveness.