sentiment

[sen-tuh-muhnt]

noun

1. an attitude toward something; regard; opinion.

2. a mental feeling; emotion.

   a sentiment of pity.

3. refined or tender emotion; manifestation of the higher or more refined feelings.

4. exhibition or manifestation of feeling or sensibility, or appeal to the tender emotions, in literature, art, or music.

5. a thought influenced by or proceeding from feeling or emotion.

6. the thought or feeling intended to be conveyed by words, acts, or gestures as distinguished from the words, acts, or gestures themselves.

sentiment

/ ˈsɛntɪmənt /

noun

1. susceptibility to tender, delicate, or romantic emotion

   she has too much sentiment to be successful

2. (often plural) a thought, opinion, or attitude

3. exaggerated, overindulged, or mawkish feeling or emotion

4. an expression of response to deep feeling, esp in art or literature

5. a feeling, emotion, or awareness

   a sentiment of pity

6. a mental attitude modified or determined by feeling

   there is a strong revolutionary sentiment in his country

7. a feeling conveyed, or intended to be conveyed, in words

Other Word Forms

• sentimentless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sentiment¹

First recorded in 1325–75; from Medieval Latin sentīmentum, equivalent to Latin sentī(re) “to feel” + -mentum -ment; replacing Middle English sentement, from Old French, from Medieval Latin, as above

Word History and Origins

Origin of sentiment¹

C17: from Medieval Latin sentīmentum, from Latin sentīre to feel

Synonym Study

See opinion. Sentiment, sentimentality are terms for sensitiveness to emotional feelings. Sentiment is a sincere and refined sensibility, a tendency to be influenced by emotion rather than reason or fact: to appeal to sentiment. Sentimentality implies affected, excessive, sometimes mawkish sentiment: weak sentimentality.

Example Sentences

“If somebody has $150 million sitting around they can dump into a campaign for public office,” South said, channeling the skeptical sentiment, “what understanding do they have of my day-to-day life?”

From Los Angeles Times

In shifting away from his regular sentiments, Aronofsky abandons the familiar.

From Salon

Board member Russell Stuart, on the other hand, pushed back on the sentiment that the flag display carries political significance.

From Los Angeles Times

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz offered a similar sentiment, saying the situation was "all too common - not just in Minnesota, but across the country".

From BBC

There’s also an unspoken sentiment that one’s celebrity culinary status must somehow be earned, and that’s not necessarily unreasonable.

From Salon

Related Words

• attitude 
• bias 
• feeling 
• idea 
• opinion 
• passion 
• position 
• tendency 
• thought 
• view 

When To Use

What are other ways to say sentiment?

A sentiment is a mental feeling or tender emotion, or a thought proceeding from feeling or emotion. How is it different from feeling, emotion, and passion? Find out on Thesaurus.com.