What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Sentient vs Sapient - What's the difference?

sentient | sapient |

In context|chiefly|science fiction|lang=en terms the difference between sentient and sapient

is that sentient is (chiefly|science fiction) an intelligent, self-aware being while sapient is (chiefly|science fiction) an intelligent, self-aware being.

As adjectives the difference between sentient and sapient

is that sentient is conscious or self-aware while sapient is possessing wisdom and discernment; wise, learned.

As nouns the difference between sentient and sapient

is that sentient is lifeform with the capability to feel sensation, such as pain while sapient is (chiefly|science fiction) an intelligent, self-aware being.

sentient

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Conscious or self-aware.
  • Experiencing sensation, thinking, thought, or feeling.
  • Possessing human-like knowledge and intelligence.

    • Antonyms

    * insensate

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Lifeform with the capability to feel sensation, such as pain.
  • (chiefly, science fiction) An intelligent, self-aware being.
  • * {{quote-book
    • , year = 1965 , first = Philip José , last = Farmer , authorlink = Philip José Farmer , title = , passage = The merpeople and the sentients who lived on the beach often hitched rides on these creatures, steering them by pressure on exposed nerve centers. }}

    Synonyms

    * See

    References

    * * * ----

    sapient

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Possessing wisdom and discernment; wise, learned.
  • * 2010 , (Christopher Hitchens), Hitch-22 , Atlantic 2011, p. 217:
    • In Europe I had been told by sapient academics that there wasn't really any class system in the United States: well, you couldn't prove that by the conditions in California's agribusinesses, or indeed its urban factories.
  • (chiefly, science fiction) Possessing intelligence and self-awareness.
  • * {{quote-magazine
    • , year = 1962 , date = January , first = Henry Beam , last = Piper , authorlink = H. Beam Piper , title = Naudsonce , magazine = Analog Science Fact and Science Fiction , volume = 68 , issue = 5 , page = 9 , passage = It was inhabited by a sapient humanoid race, and some of them were civilized enough to put it in Class V, and Colonial Office doctrine on Class V planets was rigid. }}

    Synonyms

    * (possessing wisdom) wise, sagacious * (possessing self-awareness) intelligent, self-aware, sentient

    Related terms

    * sapiently * Homo sapiens

    References

    * *

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (chiefly, science fiction) An intelligent, self-aware being.
  • * {{quote-book
    • , year = 1960 , first = Philip José , last = Farmer , authorlink = Philip José Farmer , title = A Woman a Day , page = 30 , passage = It seemed to him a possibility that the Cold War Corps of March might have contacted hitherto unknown sapients on some just discovered interstellar planet. }}

    Synonyms

    * See

    References

    * *

    Anagrams

    * ----