Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Existing in the mind; belonging to the thinking subject rather than to the object of thought: Refers to ideas, experiences, or judgments that originate from an individual's personal perspective, feelings, or beliefs, rather than from external, verifiable facts.
   • Modified or affected by personal views, experience, or background: Describes something influenced by an individual's particular tastes, prejudices, or interpretations, and therefore not impartial or universal.
   • (Grammar) Of, relating to, or being the grammatical subject: Pertaining to the subject of a sentence or clause.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:
  • Beauty is a highly subjective concept; what one person finds beautiful, another may not.
  • The reviewer's subjective opinion of the film was heavily influenced by his personal dislike of the director.
  • Her report was criticized for being too subjective and lacking objective data.
  • In the sentence "She runs," "she" is in the subjective case.

Advanced Usage

• "Subjective experience": A personal, individual experience that is felt or known only to oneself.
  • The subjective experience of pain varies greatly from person to person.
• "Subjective reality": The reality as it is perceived by an individual, which may differ from objective, shared reality.
  • His anxiety created a subjective reality where every minor setback felt like a catastrophe.

Variants and Related Words

• Subjectively (adverb): In a way that is based on personal feelings and opinions.
  • The matter was judged subjectively, not on its legal merits.
• Subjectivity (noun): The quality of being based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.
  • The historian aimed to reduce subjectivity in her analysis by relying on primary sources.
• Intersubjective (adjective): Existing between conscious minds; shared by more than one conscious mind.
  • The intersubjective agreement among scientists gives the theory its credibility.

Synonyms

• Personal: Belonging or relating to a particular person.
• Biased: Unfairly prejudiced for or against someone or something.
• Internal: Of or situated on the inside; existing within the mind.

Antonyms

• Objective: (of a person or their judgment) Not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts.
• Impartial: Treating all rivals or disputants equally; fair and just.
• External: Belonging to or forming the outer surface or structure of something.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• "A matter of subjective judgment": An issue that depends entirely on personal opinion and cannot be settled by fact alone.
  • Choosing the best painting is a matter of subjective judgment; there's no right answer.
• "In the eye of the beholder": Used to say that something is a matter of personal opinion. (This idiom is a common paraphrase for a subjective quality).
  • They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Adjective

1. of a mental act performed entirely within the mind
   • a cognition is an immanent act of mind
2. taking place within the mind and modified by individual bias
   • a subjective judgment