Definition of sentimentnext

Synonym Chooser

How is the word sentiment distinct from other similar nouns?

Some common synonyms of sentiment are affection, emotion, feeling, and passion. While all these words mean "a subjective response to a person, thing, or situation," sentiment often implies an emotion inspired by an idea.

her feminist sentiments are well known

In what contexts can affection take the place of sentiment?

The synonyms affection and sentiment are sometimes interchangeable, but affection applies to feelings that are also inclinations or likings.

a memoir of childhood filled with affection for her family

How do emotion and feeling relate to one another, in the sense of sentiment?

Emotion carries a strong implication of excitement or agitation but, like feeling, encompasses both positive and negative responses.

the drama portrays the emotions of adolescence

When could feeling be used to replace sentiment?

The words feeling and sentiment are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, feeling denotes any partly mental, partly physical response marked by pleasure, pain, attraction, or repulsion; it may suggest the mere existence of a response but imply nothing about the nature or intensity of it.

the feelings that once moved me are gone

When can passion be used instead of sentiment?

The meanings of passion and sentiment largely overlap; however, passion suggests a very powerful or controlling emotion.

revenge became his ruling passion

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sentiment City Councilman Chi Ossé’s arrest outside a Bedford-Stuyvesant brownstone to protest the perennial scourge of deed theft may have had the right sentiments, but Ossé had the wrong address. New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 24 Apr. 2026 Boes shot down previous sentiment regarding whether there was a demand for this health agenda from the consumers themselves. Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 24 Apr. 2026 That sentiment apparently changed. Staff and Wire Reports, Boston Herald, 23 Apr. 2026 The sentiment landed as a conclusion to a slew of examples that made the same case from different angles. Kennedy French, Variety, 23 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for sentiment
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sentiment
Noun
  • Where Wiseman locates emotion is in the use of the camera, the shifts in filmmaking style, especially as the movie, for a brief moment, flips to color.
    Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 24 Apr. 2026
  • Dark gray gallery walls highlight the emotions in each of the roughly 40 paintings in the exhibition centered on Caravaggio and works by artists inspired by him.
    Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 24 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • The Sun’s five-member editorial board consists of Jensen, publisher Trif Alatzas, opinion editor Philip Caldwell, and columnists Torrey Snow and Julian Baron.
    Lily Carey, Baltimore Sun, 28 Apr. 2026
  • The opinions expressed in this story are his and not those of ABC News.
    Donald J. Mihalek, ABC News, 27 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • With their scrimmage coming up the following day, the practice had a walkthrough type of feeling to it.
    Gabriel Duarte, Daily News, 25 Apr. 2026
  • There is a feeling that City have a higher attacking ceiling than Arsenal’s more functional forward line, but defensive strength is equally important in the goal-difference stakes, and Arsenal’s imposing back four has been comfortably stronger all season.
    Mark Carey, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • Over the years, one of these pass catchers tends to inspire some belief over the summer.
    Alec Lewis, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Early cultures, including Native American tribes, looked to the heavens for time keeping, spiritual beliefs and navigation.
    Ernie Cowan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • Every stentorian chord became a hammer blow, flourishes intensified into fusillades, a tense pause into an apocalypse.
    Justin Davidson, Vulture, 29 Apr. 2026
  • Her voice continues to echo in Norah Jones’s breathy understatement, Tracy Chapman’s acoustic urgency and the way Alicia Keys attaches grandeur to a single piano chord.
    New York Times, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • Look closer, and a more sophisticated fear comes into view — one that the productivity data doesn’t address at all.
    Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 29 Apr. 2026
  • But, while Warsh may favor lower rates, there currently isn’t a convincing economic argument for easier monetary policy anytime soon — a view that three key Fed voters telegraphed at this meeting.
    Bryan Mena, CNN Money, 29 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • That’s not to say the decisions were easy and lacked a sense of foreboding.
    Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Apr. 2026
  • February 19 – March 20 Small choices today create a sense of ease that lasts.
    Tarot.com, Hartford Courant, 26 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • This white chocolate bar is creamy and ultra-sweet, and the great minds at TJ’s were smart to distract from the one-note flavor with crunchy little cookie crumbles.
    Alex Beggs, Bon Appetit Magazine, 25 Apr. 2026
  • By evening, disruptive Uranus enters your 9th House of Higher Learning and Beliefs, opening your mind to new perspectives, ideas, and possibilities.
    Tarot.com, New York Daily News, 25 Apr. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Sentiment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sentiment. Accessed 1 May. 2026.

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