Meaning vs. Sense — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on October 12, 2023
"Meaning" refers to the inherent or assigned significance of a word or phrase, while "Sense" denotes the way an expression is perceived or felt, often in context.
Difference Between Meaning and Sense
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
"Meaning" is a term that conveys the intrinsic or ascribed significance of words, symbols, or actions. It's the denotation or connotation that an entity carries with it. For example, the word "dog" has a specific meaning referring to a domesticated canine.
"Sense," on the other hand, is more nuanced. It concerns the way something is understood or felt, especially in relation to context or the way it's expressed. For instance, a sentence can have a particular sense based on its phrasing, even if individual words maintain their typical meanings.
The distinction between "Meaning" and "Sense" becomes evident in language and linguistics. Every word has a meaning, but the sense of a word or phrase can shift based on context, tone, or the words surrounding it. For instance, "bright" has a meaning related to light or intelligence, but its sense can differ in "bright colors" versus "a bright student."
It's also worth noting that while meaning tends to be more static, sense can be dynamic and subjective. Two individuals might derive the same meaning from a word or phrase, but the sense they infer could differ based on their personal experiences or emotions.
Thus, understanding both the meaning and sense of words or expressions is essential for effective communication. While the meaning provides a foundational understanding, the sense offers depth, context, and nuance to interpretations.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
Inherent or assigned significance of a word or action.
The way a word or phrase is perceived or felt, often in context.
Nature
More static and constant.
Dynamic and can change based on context.
Relation to Context
Typically remains consistent regardless of context.
Highly influenced by context, tone, or surrounding words.
In Language
Every word has a meaning.
A phrase's sense can shift based on its usage.
Subjectivity
Generally objective and agreed upon.
Can be subjective based on individual perceptions and emotions.
Compare with Definitions
Meaning
The significance, purpose, or importance of something.
The meaning of life is a philosophical question many ponder.
Sense
A specific meaning of a word or phrase in context.
The word set has multiple senses depending on its usage.
Meaning
The denotation or connotation of a word or phrase.
The word book has a specific meaning in the English language.
Sense
Sound practical judgment or intelligence.
She had the good sense to avoid the dangerous area.
Meaning
The intention or goal behind an action or statement.
Her gesture had a clear meaning of apology.
Sense
A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the world and responding to stimuli. (For example, in the human body, the brain receives signals from the senses, which continuously receive information from the environment, interprets these signals, and causes the body to respond, either chemically or physically.) Although traditionally around five human senses were known (namely sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing), it is now recognized that there are many more.
Meaning
What is meant by a word, text, concept, or action
The meaning of the Hindu word is ‘breakthrough, release’
The meaning of life
Sense
A faculty by which the body perceives an external stimulus; one of the faculties of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch
The bear has a keen sense of smell which enables it to hunt at dusk
Meaning
Intended to communicate something that is not directly expressed
She gave Gabriel a meaning look
Sense
A feeling that something is the case
She had the sense of being a political outsider
You can improve your general health and sense of well-being
Meaning
The denotation, referent, or idea associated with a word or phrase
How many meanings does the word "dog" have?.
Sense
A sane and realistic attitude to situations and problems
He earned respect by the good sense he showed at meetings
Meaning
Something that is conveyed or intended, especially by language; sense or significance
The writer's meaning was obscured by convoluted prose.
Sense
A way in which an expression or a situation can be interpreted; a meaning
It is not clear which sense of the word ‘characters’ is intended in this passage
Meaning
An interpreted goal, intent, or end
"The central meaning of his pontificate is to restore papal authority" (Conor Cruise O'Brien).
Sense
A property (e.g. direction of motion) distinguishing a pair of objects, quantities, effects, etc. which differ only in that each is the reverse of the other
The cord does not become straight, but forms a length of helix in the opposite sense
Meaning
A sense of importance or purpose
When he became a teacher, he felt that his life had meaning.
Sense
Perceive by a sense or senses
With the first frost, they could sense a change in the days
Meaning
Disposed or intended in a specified manner. Often used in combination
A well-meaning fellow.
Ill-meaning intentions.
Sense
(of a machine or similar device) detect
An optical fibre senses a current flowing in a conductor
Meaning
Full of meaning; expressive
Gave me a meaning look.
Sense
Any of the faculties by which stimuli from outside or inside the body are received and felt, as the faculties of hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste, and equilibrium.
Meaning
(of words, expressions or symbols)
Sense
A perception or feeling produced by a stimulus; sensation
A sense of fatigue and hunger.
Meaning
The denotation, referent, or idea connected with a word, expression, or symbol.
Sense
Senses The faculties of sensation as means of providing physical gratification and pleasure.
Meaning
The connotation associated with a word, expression, or symbol.
Sense
An intuitive or acquired perception or ability to estimate
A sense of diplomatic timing.
Meaning
The purpose, value, or significance (of something) beyond the fact of that thing's existence.
The meaning of life
The number of persons attending the vigil had a lot of meaning to the families.
Sense
A capacity to appreciate or understand
A keen sense of humor.
Meaning
(of a person's actions) Intention.
Sense
A vague feeling or presentiment
A sense of impending doom.
Meaning
Present participle of mean
Sense
Recognition or perception either through the senses or through the intellect; consciousness
Has no sense of shame.
Meaning
Having a (specified) intention.
Sense
Natural understanding or intelligence, especially in practical matters
The boy had sense and knew just what to do when he got lost.
Meaning
Expressing some intention or significance; meaningful.
Sense
Often senses The normal ability to think or reason soundly
Have you taken leave of your senses?.
Meaning
That which is meant or intended; intent; purpose; aim; object; as, a mischievous meaning was apparent.
If there be any good meaning towards you.
Sense
Something sound or reasonable
There's no sense in waiting three hours.
Meaning
That which is signified, whether by act lanquage; signification; sense; import; as, the meaning of a hint.
Sense
A meaning that is conveyed, as in speech or writing; signification
The sense of the criticism is that the proposal has certain risks.
Meaning
Sense; power of thinking.
Sense
One of the meanings of a word or phrase
The word set has many senses.
Meaning
The message that is intended or expressed or signified;
What is the meaning of this sentence
The significance of a red traffic light
The signification of Chinese characters
The import of his announcement was ambigtuous
Sense
Judgment; consensus
Sounding out the sense of the electorate on capital punishment.
Meaning
The idea that is intended;
What is the meaning of this proverb?
Sense
Intellectual interpretation, as of the significance of an event or the conclusions reached by a group
I came away from the meeting with the sense that we had resolved all outstanding issues.
Meaning
Rich in significance or implication;
A meaning look
Pregnant with meaning
Sense
To become aware of; perceive
Organisms able to sense their surroundings.
Meaning
An interpretation or way of understanding something.
His art has a unique meaning to each viewer.
Sense
To grasp; understand
Sensed that the financial situation would improve.
Meaning
The central or primary content of a message.
The meaning of his speech was hope and unity.
Sense
To detect automatically
Sense radioactivity.
Sense
(Genetics) Of or relating to the portion of the strand of double-stranded DNA that serves as a template for and is transcribed into RNA.
Sense
Any of the manners by which living beings perceive the physical world: for humans sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste.
Sense
Perception through the intellect; apprehension; awareness.
A sense of security
Sense
Sound practical or moral judgment.
It's common sense not to put metal objects in a microwave oven.
Sense
The meaning, reason, or value of something.
You don’t make any sense.
Sense
Any particular meaning of a word, among its various meanings.
Word sense disambiguation
The true sense of words or phrases
Sense
A natural appreciation or ability.
A keen musical sense
Sense
(pragmatics) The way that a referent is presented.
Sense
(semantics) A single conventional use of a word; one of the entries for a word in a dictionary.
The word set has various senses.
Sense
(mathematics) One of two opposite directions in which a vector (especially of motion) may point. See also polarity.
Sense
(mathematics) One of two opposite directions of rotation, clockwise versus anti-clockwise.
Sense
(biochemistry) referring to the strand of a nucleic acid that directly specifies the product.
Sense
To use biological senses: to either see, hear, smell, taste, or feel.
Sense
To instinctively be aware.
She immediately sensed her disdain.
Sense
To comprehend.
Sense
A faculty, possessed by animals, of perceiving external objects by means of impressions made upon certain organs (sensory or sense organs) of the body, or of perceiving changes in the condition of the body; as, the senses of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. See Muscular sense, under Muscular, and Temperature sense, under Temperature.
Let fancy still my sense in Lethe steep.
What surmounts the reachOf human sense I shall delineate.
The traitor Sense recallsThe soaring soul from rest.
Sense
Perception by the sensory organs of the body; sensation; sensibility; feeling.
In a living creature, though never so great, the sense and the affects of any one part of the body instantly make a transcursion through the whole.
Sense
Perception through the intellect; apprehension; recognition; understanding; discernment; appreciation.
This Basilius, having the quick sense of a lover.
High disdain from sense of injured merit.
Sense
Sound perception and reasoning; correct judgment; good mental capacity; understanding; also, that which is sound, true, or reasonable; rational meaning.
He raves; his words are looseAs heaps of sand, and scattering wide from sense.
Sense
That which is felt or is held as a sentiment, view, or opinion; judgment; notion; opinion.
I speak my private but impartial senseWith freedom.
The municipal council of the city had ceased to speak the sense of the citizens.
Sense
Meaning; import; signification; as, the true sense of words or phrases; the sense of a remark.
So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense.
I think 't was in another sense.
Sense
Moral perception or appreciation.
Some are so hardened in wickedness as to have no sense of the most friendly offices.
Sense
One of two opposite directions in which a line, surface, or volume, may be supposed to be described by the motion of a point, line, or surface.
Sense
To perceive by the senses; to recognize.
Is he sure that objects are not otherwise sensed by others than they are by him?
Sense
A general conscious awareness;
A sense of security
A sense of happiness
A sense of danger
A sense of self
Sense
The meaning of a word or expression; the way in which a word or expression or situation can be interpreted;
The dictionary gave several senses for the word
In the best sense charity is really a duty
The signifier is linked to the signified
Sense
The faculty through which the external world is apprehended;
In the dark he had to depend on touch and on his senses of smell and hearing
Sense
Sound practical judgment;
I can't see the sense in doing it now
He hasn't got the sense God gave little green apples
Fortunately she had the good sense to run away
Sense
A natural appreciation or ability;
A keen musical sense
A good sense of timing
Sense
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
Sense
Detect some circumstance or entity automatically;
This robot can sense the presence of people in the room
Particle detectors sense ionization
Sense
Become aware of not through the senses but instinctively;
I sense his hostility
Sense
Comprehend;
I sensed the real meaning of his letter
Sense
A perception or feeling produced by a particular stimulus.
She had a strong sense of foreboding.
Sense
A natural or intuitive way of perceiving or understanding.
He has a keen sense of humor.
Sense
A faculty by which external stimuli are perceived.
Sight and hearing are two of the five senses.
Common Curiosities
How is "Sense" influenced in language?
"Sense" is often influenced by context, tone, or surrounding words.
Can a word have one meaning but different senses?
Yes, a word can have a consistent meaning but take on different senses in various contexts.
What does "Meaning" typically refer to?
"Meaning" refers to the inherent or assigned significance of a word or action.
Is "Sense" always subjective?
While "Sense" can often be subjective, some senses are commonly understood based on shared cultural or linguistic norms.
Are synonyms words with the same meaning?
Synonyms are words with similar meanings, but they might carry different connotations or senses.
Does the meaning of a word change in different languages?
The inherent meaning of a concept might remain, but the word representing it can vary across languages.
Is the meaning of a word always fixed?
While meanings are generally stable, they can evolve over time due to cultural or linguistic shifts.
Why is understanding both meaning and sense important?
While meaning gives foundational knowledge, sense provides depth and nuance for effective communication.
Can "Sense" affect the interpretation of poetry or literature?
Absolutely, the sense of words and phrases can deeply influence the interpretation of literary works.
How does tone influence "Sense"?
Tone can change the emotion or nuance behind a word or phrase, affecting its perceived sense.
Can two people derive different senses from the same statement?
Yes, personal experiences or emotions can lead to varied senses from the same statement.
Can cultural differences impact the sense of a phrase?
Yes, cultural norms and experiences can heavily influence the sense and interpretation of phrases.
What's the relationship between "Meaning" and "Definition"?
A definition provides the accepted meaning of a word in a structured form.
How can one determine the sense of a word in a sentence?
By considering the context, surrounding words, and any emotional or tonal cues.
Do idioms always follow the typical meaning of their constituent words?
No, idioms often have a specific sense that differs from the literal meaning of their words.
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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.
