feeling

[fee-ling] /ˈfi lɪŋ/
noun
1.
the function or the power of perceiving by touch.
2.
physical sensation not connected with sight, hearing, taste, or smell.
3.
a particular sensation of this kind:
a feeling of warmth; a feeling of pain.
4.
the general state of consciousness considered independently of particular sensations, thoughts, etc.
5.
a consciousness or vague awareness:
a feeling of inferiority.
6.
an emotion or emotional perception or attitude:
a feeling of joy; a feeling of sorrow.
7.
capacity for emotion, especially compassion:
to have great feeling for the sufferings of others.
8.
a sentiment; attitude; opinion:
The general feeling was in favor of the proposal.
9.
feelings, sensibilities; susceptibilities:
to hurt one's feelings.
10.
fine emotional endowment.
11.
  1. emotion or sympathetic perception revealed by an artist in his or her work:
    a poem without feeling.
  2. the general impression conveyed by a work:
    a landscape painting with a spacious feeling.
  3. sympathetic appreciation, as of music:
    to play with feeling.
adjective
12.
sensitive; sentient.
13.
readily affected by emotion; sympathetic:
a feeling heart.
14.
indicating or characterized by emotion:
a feeling reply to the charge.
Origin
1125-75; Middle English; see feel, -ing1, -ing2
Related forms
feelingly, adverb
feelingness, noun
nonfeeling, adjective
nonfeelingly, adverb
underfeeling, noun
Synonyms
6. sympathy, empathy, tenderness, sensitivity, sentiment. 12. emotional, tender. 13. impassioned, passionate.
Antonyms
5, 6. apathy. 12. cold.
Synonym Study
5. Feeling, emotion, passion, sentiment refer to pleasurable or painful sensations experienced when one is stirred to sympathy, anger, fear, love, grief, etc. Feeling is a general term for a subjective point of view as well as for specific sensations: to be guided by feeling rather than by facts; a feeling of sadness, of rejoicing. Emotion is applied to an intensified feeling: agitated by emotion. Passion is strong or violent emotion, often so overpowering that it masters the mind or judgment: stirred to a passion of anger. Sentiment is a mixture of thought and feeling, especially refined or tender feeling: Recollections are often colored by sentiment.
Examples from the web for feelings
  • The true home-bred feelings of all the people resumed their ascendancy.
  • For centuries, the fleeting and highly subjective world of feelings was the purview of philosophers.
  • When feelings of kinship transcend the species boundary.
  • feelings of triumph and dominance are part of a long heritage of primate evolution and human social development.
  • But, obviously, our feelings can't tell us what is within reason.
  • Those who admitted to strong feelings of revenge turned out to be those whose brain activity had been the highest.
  • So many feelings come from viewing this photo but mainly the simplicity of life.
  • Surprisingly, the idea that experiencing pain reduces feelings of guilt has never been put to a proper scientific test.
  • Discuss the reasons why they might have omitted certain things and their feelings about the imperfections of their region.
  • There are many wonderful images, but this one invokes so many powerful feelings.
British Dictionary definitions for feelings

feeling

/ˈfiːlɪŋ/
noun
1.
the sense of touch
2.
  1. the ability to experience physical sensations, such as heat, pain, etc
  2. the sensation so experienced
3.
a state of mind
4.
a physical or mental impression: a feeling of warmth
5.
fondness; sympathy: to have a great deal of feeling for someone
6.
an ability to feel deeply: a person of feeling
7.
a sentiment: a feeling that the project is feasible
8.
an impression or mood; atmosphere: the feeling of a foreign city
9.
an emotional disturbance, esp anger or dislike: a lot of bad feeling about the increase in taxes
10.
intuitive appreciation and understanding: a feeling for words
11.
sensibility in the performance of something
12.
(pl) emotional or moral sensitivity, as in relation to principles or personal dignity (esp in the phrase hurt or injure the feelings of)
13.
have feelings for, to be emotionally or sexually attracted to
adjective
14.
sentient; sensitive
15.
expressing or containing emotion
16.
warm-hearted; sympathetic
Derived Forms
feelingly, adverb
Word Origin and History for feelings
n.

"tender or sensitive side of one's nature," 1771, from plural of feeling.

feeling

n.

late 12c., "act of touching, sense of touch," verbal noun from feel (v.). Meaning "emotion" is mid-14c. Meaning "what one feels (about something), opinion" is from mid-15c. Meaning "capacity to feel" is from 1580s. Related: Feelingly.

feelings in Medicine

feeling n.

  1. The sensation involving perception by touch.

  2. A physical sensation, as of pain.

  3. An affective state of consciousness, such as that resulting from emotions, sentiments, or desires.

Idioms and Phrases with feelings

feelings

see:
Encyclopedia Article for feelings

feeling

in psychology, the perception of events within the body, closely related to emotion. The term feeling is a verbal noun denoting the action of the verb to feel, which derives etymologically from the Middle English verb felen, "to perceive by touch, by palpation." It soon came to mean, more generally, to perceive through those senses that are not referred to any special organ. As the known special organs of sense were the ones mediating the perception of the external world, the verb to feel came also to mean the perception of events within the body. Psychologists disagree on the use of the term feeling. The preceding definition accords with that of the American psychologist R.S. Woodworth, who defines the problem of feeling and emotion as that of the individual's "internal state." Many psychologists, however, still follow the German philosopher Immanuel Kant in equating feeling to states of pleasantness and unpleasantness, known in psychology as affect.

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