wise

wise, sage, sapient, judicious, prudent, sensible, sane are comparable when they mean having or manifesting the power to recognize the best ends and the best means to attain those ends.

Wise applies to one or the acts or views of one who is so discerning in his understanding of persons, conditions, or situations that he knows how to deal with them, how to correct what is wrong in them, how to get the best out of them considering their limitations or difficulties, or how to estimate them fairly and accurately; often also the term implies a wide range of experience or of knowledge or learning

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prudent and conservative, Edward was wise enough to know that these two qualities . . . were not enough— Buck

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knowing himself wise in a mad world— Meredith

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it is wise to be cautious in condemning views and systems which are now out of fashion— Inge

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Sage characterizes one who is eminently wise and typically philosophical by temperament and experience. The term can suggest a habit of profound reflection upon men and events and an ability to reach conclusions of universal as well as immediate value, and has been applied chiefly to persons and utterances that are venerated for their wisdom and good counsel

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what the sage poets, taught by the heavenly Muse, storied of old in high immortal verse— Milton

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for I, who hold sage Homer's rule the best— Pope

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the natural crown that sage Experience wears— Wordsworth

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In somewhat lighter use sage often suggests the affectation or the appearance of great wisdom or knowledge, whether the matters concerned be of significance or not

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the older women seemed to have a kind of secret among themselves, a reason for sage smiles and glances— Sackville-West

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Sapient describes one exhibiting the utmost sagacity

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contain valuable insights and sapient advice to educators— Larrabee

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the sapient leader who shall bring order out of the wild misrule— Partington

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but often the term is used ironically to imply a mere hollow sham of such sagacity

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the generals . . . turned attractive profiles in their [photographers'] direction and put on expressions of sapient authority— Linklater

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a sapient, instructed, shrewdly ascertaining ignorance— Pater

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Judicious applies to one who is capable of arriving at wise decisions or just conclusions; the term usually suggests the ability to distinguish fact from falsehood and to eliminate all bias so that one's judgments are fair, well-balanced, and level-headed as well as sound

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I am perfectly indifferent to the judgment of all, except the few who are indeed judicious— Cowper

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I really think that, for wise men, this is not judicious— Burke

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the love of knowledge is not perhaps as insatiable as with us, but it is infinitely more judicious— Brownell

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Prudent (see also under PRUDENCE; PRUDENT 3) applies to one who is so rich in practical wisdom that he is able to keep himself, his passions, and his actions under control and obedient to what he knows as right and necessary. In this sense prudent implies the use of one's reason in the attainment of the moral virtue that leads to right living, as distinguished from its use in the attainment of knowledge of things which transcend experience

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the prudent man looketh well to his going— Prov 14:15

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Sensible (see also AWARE, PERCEPTIBLE, MATERIAL)

describes one who in speech or action does not exceed the bounds of common sense or of good sense; the term suggests a display of intelligence rather than of wisdom and of natural reasonableness rather than the exercise of the reason

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to discuss the ultimate career of a child nine years old would not be the act of a sensible parent—Bennett

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whatever he took up he did in the same matter-of-fact sensible way; without a touch of imagination, without a spark of brilliancy— Woolf

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Sane characterizes one who shows healthy- mindedness and level-headedness in prudent, judicious, or sensible acts and words

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sane . . . persons who are so well balanced that they can adjust themselves to the conditions of every civilization— Ellis

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thankful in his heart and soul that he had his mother, so sane and wholesome— D. H. Lawrence

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Analogous words: discreet, prudent, foresighted (see under PRUDENCE): *cautious, circumspect, calculating: sagacious, perspicacious, *shrewd, astute: knowing, *intelligent, alert, bright, smart

Antonyms: simple