sensualism
"sensualism" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sensualism” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Addiction to or obsession with sensual pleasures or affairs.
Corpus desk
Index EN-sensualism · sensualism · English
sensualism · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sensualism |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “sensualism” in English
Rare enough to double-check
sensualism is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for sensualism, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From sensual + -ism. The correct English form is sensualism, spelled S-E-N-S-U-A-L-I-S-M.
Definition
- 1Addiction to or obsession with sensual pleasures or affairs.
- 2The doctrine that gratification of the senses is the highest good.
- 3The doctrine that all knowledge not only originates in sensation, but are transformed sensations, copies or relics of sensations; sensationalism.
- 4A sensual style or aesthetic.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how sensualism appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
1858, The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 2, No. 1, Gottfried Wilhem von Leibnitz, He [Locke] repudiated any supposed dowry of original truths or innate or connate ideas, and endeavored to show how, by acting on the report of the senses and personal experience, the understanding arrives at all the ideas of which it is conscious. The mode of procedure in this cas…
For Sensualism the only source of human knowledge is sensation: everything reduces to transformed sensations.
Etymology
From sensual + -ism.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.