Definition of Discerning

1. Adjective. Having or revealing keen insight and good judgment. "A discerning reader"


2. Adjective. Unobtrusively perceptive and sympathetic. "A discreet silence"
Exact synonyms: Discreet
Similar to: Tactful
Derivative terms: Discreetness

3. Adjective. Quick to understand. "A kind and apprehensive friend"
Exact synonyms: Apprehensive
Similar to: Perceptive
Derivative terms: Apprehend

4. Adjective. Able to make or detect effects of great subtlety; sensitive. "A discerning eye for color"
Similar to: Discriminating

Definition of Discerning

1. a. Acute; shrewd; sagacious; sharp-sighted.

Definition of Discerning

1. Verb. (present participle of discern) ¹

2. Adjective. Of keen insight or good judgement; perceptive. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Discerning

1. discern [v] - See also: discern

Lexicographical Neighbors of Discerning

discepting
discepts
discern
discern'd
discernability
discernable
discernance
discerned
discerner
discerners
discerneth
discernibility
discernible
discernibleness
discernibly
discerning (current term)
discerningly
discernment
discernments
discerns
discerp
discerped
discerpible
discerping
discerps
discerption
discerptive
discession
discharge
discharge lamp

Literary usage of Discerning

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke (1894)
"CHAPTER XL OF discerning, AND OTHER OPERATIONS OF THE MIND 1. BOOK n. T ANOTHER faculty we may take notice of in our minds CHAP. XI. is that of discerning ..."

2. Philosophical Works by John Locke, James Augustus St. John (1854)
"OF discerning, AND OTHER OPERATIONS OF THE MIND. 1. No Knowledge without Discernment.—ANOTHER faculty we may take notice of in our minds, ..."

3. The Philosophical Works of John Locke by John Locke, James Augustus St. John (1854)
"CHAPTER XL OF discerning, AND OTHER OPERATIONS OF THE MIND. 1. No Knowledge without Discernment.—ANOTHER faculty we may take notice of in our minds, ..."

4. Dictionary of National Biography by Leslie Stephen (1885)
"of the college were drawn up in professed harmony with his view», it may be interred that he recognised, in common with other discerning minds, ..."

5. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the by Charles George Herbermann, Edward Aloysius Pace, Condé Bénoist Pallen, Thomas Joseph Shahan, John Joseph Wynne (1913)
"He had long shown to discerning eyes, like those of Sir Thomas More, that he would brook contradiction in nothing. Without being guilty of notable ..."

6. The Edinburgh Review by Sydney Smith (1869)
"... and indicates his appreciation by eulogiums as discerning as they are numerous. But he will not let his admiration have free course. He deems it a duty, ..."

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