sapient

/'seipjənt/

Thân thiện

A wise elder offers sapient advice to a young student.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Acutely insightful and wise: Possessing or showing deep understanding, keen judgment, and practical wisdom, often based on experience and reflection.
   • Appearing or pretending to be wise: (Archaic or less common) Affecting or assuming an air of wisdom; ostentatiously learned.

Usage and Examples

• As an adjective meaning "wise and insightful":
  • The professor offered sapient advice on navigating complex ethical dilemmas.
  • Her sapient observations about the market trends saved the company from a poor investment.
• As an adjective meaning "affecting wisdom" (archaic):
  • The critic's sapient tone was more annoying than enlightening.

Advanced Usage

• In formal or literary contexts: "Sapient" is often used in formal writing, literature, or academic discourse to describe profound, discerning wisdom.
  • The ancient texts are filled with sapient proverbs about human nature.
• As a distinguishing term: It can distinguish deep, practical wisdom from mere intelligence or knowledge.
  • He was not just intelligent but truly sapient, understanding the deeper implications of every decision.

Variants and Related Words

• Sapience (noun): The quality of being sapient; wisdom, discernment.
  • Her sapience was respected by all her colleagues.
• Sapiential (adjective): Relating to or characterized by wisdom.
  • The book is a sapiential text, guiding readers toward a thoughtful life.

Synonyms

• Wise: Having or showing experience, knowledge, and good judgment.
• Sagacious: Having or showing keen mental discernment and good judgment; shrewd.
• Perspicacious: Having a ready insight into and understanding of things.
• Discerning: Showing good judgment, especially in matters of taste or quality.

Antonyms

• Foolish: Lacking good sense or judgment; unwise.
• Obtuse: Annoyingly insensitive or slow to understand.
• Unwise: Showing poor judgment or thoughtlessness.

Notes on Usage

• Formality: "Sapient" is a formal word. In everyday conversation, synonyms like "wise" or "insightful" are more common.
• Context: The primary modern meaning is "profoundly wise." The archaic meaning of "pretentiously wise" is now rare but may be encountered in older texts or used for stylistic effect.
• Etymology: The word originates from the Latin , meaning 'being wise,' from the verb 'to be wise.'

Học thuật

Adjective

1. acutely insightful and wise
   • much too perspicacious to be taken in by such a spurious argument
   • observant and thoughtful, he was given to asking sagacious questions
   • a source of valuable insights and sapient advice to educators

Từ đồng nghĩa

• perspicacious
• sagacious