CultureAugust 9, 2026

sentient

SEN-shunt

Definition

Having the capacity to feel, perceive, or experience subjectively.

Etymology

Derived from the Latin 'sentientem,' the present participle of 'sentire,' meaning 'to feel.' It entered English in the 17th century to describe the faculty of feeling or sensation.

In the news

In Kore-eda's cinema, inanimate objects or memories are often treated with a sense of presence that implies they are almost sentient, reflecting his humanistic approach to storytelling.

Unboxing Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Imaginative Cinema

Read the full article ↗

FilmInk

Related words

Learn a word like this every day

Meet one new word every morning.

Newspoken pulls one carefully chosen word from the day’s news — with a clear definition, context, and light review that makes it stick. Get it on your phone.