"sensical" meaning in English

See sensical in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /ˈsɛnsɪkl̩/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈsɛnsɪk(ə)l/ [General-American], /-sə-/ [General-American] Audio: en-au-sensical.ogg [Australia] Forms: more sensical [comparative], most sensical [superlative]
Etymology: sense + -ical; later uses are probably a back-formation from nonsensical. Etymology templates: {{suffix|en|sense|ical}} sense + -ical, {{back-formation|en|nonsensical|nocap=1}} back-formation from nonsensical Head templates: {{en-adj}} sensical (comparative more sensical, superlative most sensical)
  1. (rare) That makes sense; showing internal logic; rational, sensible. Tags: rare Derived forms: sensically Related terms: commonsensical, nonsensical, sense Translations (that makes sense — see also rational, sensible): significativo (Italian)

Download JSON data for sensical meaning in English (4.9kB)

{
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sense",
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      "expansion": "sense + -ical",
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      "args": {
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        "2": "nonsensical",
        "nocap": "1"
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      "expansion": "back-formation from nonsensical",
      "name": "back-formation"
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  ],
  "etymology_text": "sense + -ical; later uses are probably a back-formation from nonsensical.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more sensical",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
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    {
      "form": "most sensical",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
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  "head_templates": [
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      "expansion": "sensical (comparative more sensical, superlative most sensical)",
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  "hyphenation": [
    "sens‧i‧cal"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "illogical"
        },
        {
          "word": "irrational"
        },
        {
          "word": "nonsensical"
        },
        {
          "word": "senseless"
        }
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      "categories": [
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
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        {
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          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
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        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -ical",
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      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "sensically"
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1795, [Samuel Jackson] Pratt, “Letter VIII. To the Same [the Honourable Mrs. B.].”, in Gleanings through Wales, Holland and Westphalia, with Views of Peace and War at Home and Abroad. […], volume I, London: Printed for T[homas] N. Longman, and L. B. Seeley, […], →OCLC, pages 90–91",
          "text": "But that, which had more magic for me on this occaſion, was, I confeſs, the very points, which your very ſober, ſenſical people, who are vain of their rationality, would be the leaſt ſatisfied with—the romantic means ſhe uſed to bring this journey of her heart to bear.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1895, B. C. Lease [pseudonym; Benjamin Lease Crozer Griffith], A Bachelor’s Divorce. A Comedy in Three Acts, Boston, Mass.: W[alter] H. Baker, →OCLC; republished in Benjamin L[ease] C[rozer] Griffith, Plays and Monologues, [Pennsylvania, Pa.]: The Penn Publishing Company; printed privately, 1901, →OCLC, Act II, page 35",
          "text": "Neville (filling Rolinda's glass). Just a drop. / Rolinda. For your sake. [Takes a sip. / Neville. Behold the triumph of a physician over his rival! (Drinks a glass of wine.) Brute force succumbs to science! / Rolinda. Don't be nonsensical. / Neville. I'm very sensical. Just a drop! (Empties another glassful.) […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1986, Fred D’Agostino, Chomsky’s System of Ideas, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 189",
          "text": "A nonsensical sentence, then, is one which is inconsistent with S, while a sensical sentence is one which is consistent with S.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998, William Storm, “Tragedy, Tragic, Vision”, in After Dionysus: A Theory of the Tragic, Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, page 41",
          "text": "The tragic condition, which is characterized most notably by the inevitable separation of mortal being from all that is held as valuable, is as dispassionate as a law of nature. It contains no inherent commentary on its stipulations, and no intrinsic propositions concerning whether its effects are sensical or not.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001 June, Alexandra Styron, All the Finest Girls: A Novel, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company; 1st paperback edition, Boston, Mass.: Back Bay Books, Little, Brown and Company, 2002, page 127",
          "text": "There I waited, exiled from the realm of sensical thoughts, for Lou's sons to find me.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004, John C. Welchman, quoting Mike Kelley, “Introduction”, in Mike Kelley, edited by John C. Welchman, Minor Histories: Statements, Conversations, Proposals, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, page xxii",
          "text": "So it starts with the sensical, and through shifts in syntax and cadence, goes completely abstract.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "That makes sense; showing internal logic; rational, sensible."
      ],
      "id": "en-sensical-en-adj-aqd9kqbk",
      "links": [
        [
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          "make sense"
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        [
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          "logic"
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        [
          "rational",
          "rational"
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          "sensible",
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rare) That makes sense; showing internal logic; rational, sensible."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "commonsensical"
        },
        {
          "word": "nonsensical"
        },
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          "word": "sense"
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      "tags": [
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      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "that makes sense — see also rational, sensible",
          "word": "significativo"
        }
      ]
    }
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      "tags": [
        "General-American"
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      "tags": [
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  "word": "sensical"
}
{
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      "word": "sensically"
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  "etymology_text": "sense + -ical; later uses are probably a back-formation from nonsensical.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more sensical",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
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    },
    {
      "form": "most sensical",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
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  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {},
      "expansion": "sensical (comparative more sensical, superlative most sensical)",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "related": [
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      "word": "commonsensical"
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      "word": "nonsensical"
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  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "illogical"
        },
        {
          "word": "irrational"
        },
        {
          "word": "nonsensical"
        },
        {
          "word": "senseless"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English 3-syllable words",
        "English adjectives",
        "English back-formations",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English terms suffixed with -ical",
        "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with rare senses"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1795, [Samuel Jackson] Pratt, “Letter VIII. To the Same [the Honourable Mrs. B.].”, in Gleanings through Wales, Holland and Westphalia, with Views of Peace and War at Home and Abroad. […], volume I, London: Printed for T[homas] N. Longman, and L. B. Seeley, […], →OCLC, pages 90–91",
          "text": "But that, which had more magic for me on this occaſion, was, I confeſs, the very points, which your very ſober, ſenſical people, who are vain of their rationality, would be the leaſt ſatisfied with—the romantic means ſhe uſed to bring this journey of her heart to bear.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1895, B. C. Lease [pseudonym; Benjamin Lease Crozer Griffith], A Bachelor’s Divorce. A Comedy in Three Acts, Boston, Mass.: W[alter] H. Baker, →OCLC; republished in Benjamin L[ease] C[rozer] Griffith, Plays and Monologues, [Pennsylvania, Pa.]: The Penn Publishing Company; printed privately, 1901, →OCLC, Act II, page 35",
          "text": "Neville (filling Rolinda's glass). Just a drop. / Rolinda. For your sake. [Takes a sip. / Neville. Behold the triumph of a physician over his rival! (Drinks a glass of wine.) Brute force succumbs to science! / Rolinda. Don't be nonsensical. / Neville. I'm very sensical. Just a drop! (Empties another glassful.) […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1986, Fred D’Agostino, Chomsky’s System of Ideas, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 189",
          "text": "A nonsensical sentence, then, is one which is inconsistent with S, while a sensical sentence is one which is consistent with S.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998, William Storm, “Tragedy, Tragic, Vision”, in After Dionysus: A Theory of the Tragic, Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, page 41",
          "text": "The tragic condition, which is characterized most notably by the inevitable separation of mortal being from all that is held as valuable, is as dispassionate as a law of nature. It contains no inherent commentary on its stipulations, and no intrinsic propositions concerning whether its effects are sensical or not.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001 June, Alexandra Styron, All the Finest Girls: A Novel, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company; 1st paperback edition, Boston, Mass.: Back Bay Books, Little, Brown and Company, 2002, page 127",
          "text": "There I waited, exiled from the realm of sensical thoughts, for Lou's sons to find me.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004, John C. Welchman, quoting Mike Kelley, “Introduction”, in Mike Kelley, edited by John C. Welchman, Minor Histories: Statements, Conversations, Proposals, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, page xxii",
          "text": "So it starts with the sensical, and through shifts in syntax and cadence, goes completely abstract.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "That makes sense; showing internal logic; rational, sensible."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "makes sense",
          "make sense"
        ],
        [
          "showing",
          "show#Verb"
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        ],
        [
          "logic",
          "logic"
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        [
          "rational",
          "rational"
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        [
          "sensible",
          "sensible"
        ]
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rare) That makes sense; showing internal logic; rational, sensible."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ]
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  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsɛnsɪkl̩/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
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    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsɛnsɪk(ə)l/",
      "tags": [
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    {
      "ipa": "/-sə-/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/En-au-sensical.ogg",
      "tags": [
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "that makes sense — see also rational, sensible",
      "word": "significativo"
    }
  ],
  "word": "sensical"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-06-04 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (e9e0a99 and db5a844). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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