Feel vs. Experience — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman & Urooj Arif — Updated on April 1, 2024
Feel focuses on emotional or physical sensations, while experience encompasses a broader range of events or activities and their impact on an individual.
Difference Between Feel and Experience
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Feel primarily refers to the act of sensing or becoming aware of something through the senses or emotions. It captures immediate, often subjective, responses to stimuli, such as touch, emotion, or intuition. Whereas, experience is a broader term that involves undergoing or living through events, activities, or situations, leading to the accumulation of knowledge or skills over time. Experience encompasses both direct participation and observation, providing a more comprehensive understanding of events or subjects.
Feel is closely associated with physical and emotional sensations. It can describe the tactile sensation of touch (e.g., feeling soft fabric) or an emotional state (e.g., feeling happy). On the other hand, experience often refers to the practical knowledge or wisdom gained through direct involvement in or exposure to events. It implies a process and outcome, such as learning from experience.
While feeling is inherently personal and subjective, varying greatly from one individual to another, experience can be shared or communicated to others. People can describe or relate their experiences, transferring knowledge or insight. This makes experience a key component in education, work, and personal development, whereas feelings are more about personal perception and emotional state at a moment.
Feelings can be fleeting or changeable, influenced by immediate surroundings, thoughts, or physical conditions. In contrast, experiences tend to have a more lasting impact, shaping an individual's skills, beliefs, and personality over time. Experiences contribute to personal growth and understanding, while feelings often reflect momentary states of being.
Despite their differences, both feelings and experiences are crucial to the human condition. Feelings inform our immediate state and guide our responses to various situations. Experiences, meanwhile, build our character, inform our decisions, and shape our worldview. Both play pivotal roles in defining our perceptions, actions, and interactions with the world around us.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
Sensing something through physical or emotional perception.
Undergoing or living through events or situations.
Nature
Subjective and immediate.
Broader and accumulative.
Duration
Often fleeting or momentary.
Can have a lasting impact over time.
Examples
Feeling happy, cold, or pain.
Gaining experience in a job or learning a skill.
Communication
Feelings are expressed but deeply personal.
Experiences can be shared and taught to others.
Compare with Definitions
Feel
Expressing empathy or understanding.
I feel your pain and frustration.
Experience
Accumulating knowledge or skill from direct participation.
He has years of experience in graphic design.
Feel
Sensing through touch.
She could feel the fabric's smoothness.
Experience
An event or occurrence that leaves an impression.
Seeing the Northern Lights was an unforgettable experience.
Feel
Having a particular opinion or belief without concrete evidence.
I feel that we are not alone in the universe.
Experience
The process of living through an event.
The experience of studying abroad was life-changing.
Feel
Experiencing a physical state or condition.
She felt exhausted after the marathon.
Experience
Undergoing an event or series of events.
Traveling through Asia was an incredible experience.
Feel
Experiencing an emotion.
He feels joy whenever he sees his family.
Experience
The knowledge or skill gained by such means.
Her experience in customer service makes her a great fit for the role.
Feel
Be aware of (a person or object) through touching or being touched
She felt someone touch her shoulder
You can feel the soft grass beneath your feet
Experience
Experience is the process through which conscious organisms perceive the world around them. Experiences can be accompanied by active awareness on the part of the person having the experience, although they need not be.
Feel
Experience (an emotion or sensation)
She started to feel really sick
It felt odd to be alone again
We feel very strongly about freedom of expression
I felt a sense of excitement
Experience
The apprehension of an object, thought, or emotion through the senses or mind
A child's first experience of snow.
Feel
Have a belief or impression, especially without an identifiable reason
She felt that the woman positively disliked her
Experience
Active participation in events or activities, leading to the accumulation of knowledge or skill
A lesson taught by experience.
A carpenter with experience in roof repair.
Feel
An act of touching something to examine it.
Experience
The knowledge or skill so derived.
Feel
A sensation given by an object or material when touched
Nylon cloth with a cotton feel
Experience
An event or a series of events participated in or lived through.
Feel
Feelings of heightened emotion
Fans will undoubtedly get the feels when they see how things haven't changed
I cry at everything, even the types of movies you wouldn't expect to give you all the feels
Experience
The totality of such events in the past of an individual or group.
Feel
To perceive through the sense of touch
Feel the velvety smoothness of a peach.
Experience
To participate in personally; undergo
Experience a great adventure.
Experienced loneliness.
Feel
To perceive as a physical sensation
Feel a sharp pain.
Feel the cold.
Experience
The effect upon the judgment or feelings produced by any event, whether witnessed or participated in; personal and direct impressions as contrasted with description or fancies; personal acquaintance; actual enjoyment or suffering.
It was an experience he would not soon forget.
Feel
To touch
Reached out and felt the wall.
Experience
(countable) An activity one has performed.
Feel
To examine by touching
Felt the fabric for flaws.
Experience
(countable) A collection of events and/or activities from which an individual or group may gather knowledge, opinions, and skills.
Feel
To test or explore with caution
Feel one's way in a new job.
Experience
(uncountable) The knowledge thus gathered.
Feel
To undergo the experience of
Felt my interest rising.
Felt great joy.
Experience
Trial; a test or experiment.
Feel
To be aware of; sense
Felt the anger of the crowd.
Experience
(transitive) To observe certain events; undergo a certain feeling or process; or perform certain actions that may alter one or contribute to one's knowledge, opinions, or skills.
Feel
To be emotionally affected by
She still feels the loss of her dog.
Experience
Trial, as a test or experiment.
She caused him to make experienceUpon wild beasts.
Feel
To be persuaded of (something) on the basis of intuition, emotion, or other indefinite grounds
I feel that what the informant says may well be true.
Experience
The effect upon the judgment or feelings produced by any event, whether witnessed or participated in; personal and direct impressions as contrasted with description or fancies; personal acquaintance; actual enjoyment or suffering.
I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience.
To most men experience is like the stern lights of a ship, which illumine only the track it has passed.
When the consuls . . . came in . . . they knew soon by experience how slenderly guarded against danger the majesty of rulers is where force is wanting.
Those that undertook the religion of our Savior upon his preaching, had no experience of it.
Feel
To believe; think
She felt his answer to be evasive.
Experience
An act of knowledge, one or more, by which single facts or general truths are ascertained; experimental or inductive knowledge; hence, implying skill, facility, or practical wisdom gained by personal knowledge, feeling or action; as, a king without experience of war.
Whence hath the mind all the materials of reason and knowledge? To this I answer in one word, from experience.
Experience may be acquired in two ways; either, first by noticing facts without any attempt to influence the frequency of their occurrence or to vary the circumstances under which they occur; this is observation; or, secondly, by putting in action causes or agents over which we have control, and purposely varying their combinations, and noticing what effects take place; this is experiment.
Feel
To experience the sensation of touch.
Experience
To make practical acquaintance with; to try personally; to prove by use or trial; to have trial of; to have the lot or fortune of; to have befall one; to be affected by; to feel; as, to experience pain or pleasure; to experience poverty; to experience a change of views.
The partial failure and disappointment which he had experienced in India.
Feel
To produce a particular sensation, especially through the sense of touch
The sheets felt smooth.
Experience
To exercise; to train by practice.
The youthful sailors thus with early careTheir arms experience, and for sea prepare.
Feel
To produce a particular impression; appear to be; seem
It feels good to be home. See Usage Note at well2.
Experience
The accumulation of knowledge or skill that results from direct participation in events or activities;
A man of experience
Experience is the best teacher
Feel
To be conscious of a specified kind or quality of physical, mental, or emotional state
Felt warm and content.
Feels strongly about the election.
Experience
The content of direct observation or participation in an event;
He had a religious experience
He recalled the experience vividly
Feel
To seek or explore something by the sense of touch
Felt for the light switch in the dark.
Experience
An event as apprehended;
A surprising experience
That painful experience certainly got our attention
Feel
To have compassion or sympathy
I feel for him in his troubles.
Experience
Go or live through;
We had many trials to go through
He saw action in Viet Nam
Feel
Perception by touch or by sensation of the skin
A feel of autumn in the air.
Experience
Have firsthand knowledge of states, situations, emotions, or sensations;
I know the feeling!
Have you ever known hunger?
I have lived a kind of hell when I was a drug addict
The holocaust survivors have lived a nightmare
I lived through two divorces
Feel
The sense of touch
A surface that is rough to the feel.
Experience
Of mental or physical states or experiences;
Get an idea
Experience vertigo
Get nauseous
Undergo a strange sensation
The chemical undergoes a sudden change
The fluid undergoes shear
Receive injuries
Have a feeling
Feel
An act or instance of touching or feeling
Gave the carpet a feel.
Experience
Undergo an emotional sensation;
She felt resentful
He felt regret
Feel
An overall impression or effect
"gives such disparate pictures ... a crazily convincing documentary feel" (Stephen King).
Experience
Undergo;
The stocks had a fast run-up
Feel
Intuitive awareness or natural ability
Has a feel for decorating.
Feel
(heading) To use or experience the sense of touch.
Feel
(transitive) To find one's way (literally or figuratively) by touching or using cautious movements.
I felt my way through the darkened room.
I felt my way cautiously through the dangerous business maneuver.
Feel
(intransitive) To receive information by touch or by any neurons other than those responsible for sight, smell, taste, or hearing.
Feel
(intransitive) To search by sense of touch.
He felt for the light switch in the dark.
Feel
(heading) To sense or think emotionally or judgmentally.
Feel
(transitive) To experience an emotion or other mental state about.
I can feel the sadness in his poems.
Feel
(transitive) To think, believe, or have an impression concerning.
I feel that we need to try harder.
Feel
To experience an emotion or other mental state.
He obviously feels strongly about it.
She felt even more upset when she heard the details.
Feel
(intransitive) To sympathise; to have the sensibilities moved or affected.
I feel for you and your plight.
Feel
(transitive) To be or become aware of.
Feel
(transitive) To experience the consequences of.
Feel my wrath!
Feel
(copulative) To seem (through touch or otherwise).
It looks like wood, but it feels more like plastic.
This is supposed to be a party, but it feels more like a funeral!
Feel
To understand.
I don't want you back here, ya feel me?
Feel
(archaic) The sense of touch.
Feel
A perception experienced mainly or solely through the sense of touch.
Bark has a rough feel.
Feel
A vague mental impression.
You should get a feel for the area before moving in.
Feel
An act of fondling.
She gave me a quick feel to show that she loves me.
Feel
A vague understanding.
I'm getting a feel for what you mean.
Feel
An intuitive ability.
She has a feel for music.
Feel
A feeling; an emotion.
I know that feel.
Feel
Alternative form of fele
Feel
Alternative form of fele
Feel
Alternative form of fele
Feel
To perceive by the touch; to take cognizance of by means of the nerves of sensation distributed all over the body, especially by those of the skin; to have sensation excited by contact of (a thing) with the body or limbs.
Who feelThose rods of scorpions and those whips of steel.
Feel
To touch; to handle; to examine by touching; as, feel this piece of silk; hence, to make trial of; to test; often with out.
Come near, . . . that I may feel thee, my son.
He hath this to feel my affection to your honor.
Feel
To perceive by the mind; to have a sense of; to experience; to be affected by; to be sensible of, or sensitive to; as, to feel pleasure; to feel pain.
Teach me to feel another's woe.
Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing.
He best can paint them who shall feel them most.
Mankind have felt their strength and made it felt.
Feel
To take internal cognizance of; to be conscious of; to have an inward persuasion of.
For then, and not till then, he felt himself.
Feel
To perceive; to observe.
Feel
To have perception by the touch, or by contact of anything with the nerves of sensation, especially those upon the surface of the body.
Feel
To have the sensibilities moved or affected.
[She] feels with the dignity of a Roman matron
And mine as man, who feel for all mankind.
Feel
To be conscious of an inward impression, state of mind, persuasion, physical condition, etc.; to perceive one's self to be; - followed by an adjective describing the state, etc.; as, to feel assured, grieved, persuaded.
I then did feel full sick.
Feel
To know with feeling; to be conscious; hence, to know certainly or without misgiving.
Garlands . . . which I feelI am not worthy yet to wear.
Feel
To appear to the touch; to give a perception; to produce an impression by the nerves of sensation; - followed by an adjective describing the kind of sensation.
Blind men say black feels rough, and white feels smooth.
Feel
Feeling; perception.
To intercept and have a more kindly feel of its genial warmth.
Feel
A sensation communicated by touching; impression made upon one who touches or handles; as, this leather has a greasy feel.
The difference between these two tumors will be distinguished by the feel.
Feel
An intuitive awareness;
He has a feel for animals
It's easy when you get the feel of it
Feel
The general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people;
The feel of the city excited him
A clergyman improved the tone of the meeting
It had the smell of treason
Feel
A property perceived by touch
Feel
Undergo an emotional sensation;
She felt resentful
He felt regret
Feel
Come to believe on the basis of emotion, intuitions, or indefinite grounds;
I feel that he doesn't like me
I find him to be obnoxious
I found the movie rather entertaining
Feel
Perceive by a physical sensation, e.g., coming from the skin or muscles;
He felt the wind
She felt an object brushing her arm
He felt his flesh crawl
She felt the heat when she got out of the car
Feel
Seem with respect to a given sensation given;
My cold is gone--I feel fine today
She felt tired after the long hike
Feel
Have a feeling or perception about oneself in reaction to someone's behavior or attitude;
She felt small and insignificant
You make me feel naked
I made the students feel different about themselves
Feel
Undergo passive experience of:
We felt the effects of inflation
Her fingers felt their way through the string quartet
She felt his contempt of her
Feel
Be felt or perceived in a certain way;
The ground feels shaky
The sheets feel soft
Feel
Grope or feel in search of something;
He felt for his wallet
Feel
Examine by touch;
Feel this soft cloth!
The customer fingered the sweater
Feel
Examine (a body part) by palpation;
The nurse palpated the patient's stomach
The runner felt her pulse
Feel
Find by testing or cautious exploration;
He felt his way around the dark room
Feel
Produce a certain impression;
It feels nice to be home again
Common Curiosities
Can feelings influence experiences?
Yes, feelings can greatly influence how we perceive and react to experiences.
Can two people feel the same thing?
While two people can have similar feelings, each person's emotional response is unique and subjective.
Are experiences always positive?
No, experiences can be positive, negative, or neutral, depending on the circumstances and personal perceptions.
Can you have an experience without feeling anything?
It's rare, as most experiences evoke some form of emotional or physical response, but it's possible to have muted or subdued feelings in certain situations.
Is it possible to control feelings?
While it's challenging to control feelings directly, individuals can learn to manage their reactions and responses to them.
Can experiences be transferred from one person to another?
While the direct sensation of an experience cannot be transferred, knowledge and insights gained can be shared through storytelling or teaching.
How do feelings relate to mental health?
Feelings are closely tied to mental health, as prolonged negative emotions can impact psychological well-being, while positive feelings can enhance it.
Do feelings affect decision-making?
Yes, feelings can significantly impact decision-making, often guiding or influencing choices based on emotional responses.
Are certain feelings universal?
Some basic emotions, such as happiness, sadness, fear, and anger, are considered universal across cultures.
How does experience benefit learning?
Experience provides practical knowledge and skills, enhancing learning through direct participation and observation.
How do experiences shape personality?
Experiences contribute to personal growth, influence beliefs, and shape how individuals respond to future situations, thereby molding personality.
How do cultural differences affect experiences?
Cultural background can significantly influence how experiences are perceived and valued, impacting personal meaning and response.
Is experience necessary for expertise?
Yes, accumulating experience through practice and exposure is essential for developing expertise in any field.
Can a lack of experience be compensated for?
While a lack of experience can be a disadvantage, it can be compensated for with eagerness to learn, adaptability, and acquiring knowledge through alternative means.
Can feelings be entirely separated from experiences?
Feelings and experiences are closely intertwined, with feelings often arising from and influencing experiences, making them difficult to completely separate.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
