FEELING

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does feeling mean? 

• FEELING (noun)
  The noun FEELING has 6 senses:

1. the experiencing of affective and emotional states

2. a vague idea in which some confidence is placed

3. the general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people

4. a physical sensation that you experience

5. the sensation produced by pressure receptors in the skin

6. an intuitive understanding of something

  Familiarity information: FEELING used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FEELING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The experiencing of affective and emotional states

Classified under:

Nouns with no superordinates

Context example:

I disliked him and the feeling was mutual

Hypernyms ("feeling" is a kind of...):

state (the way something is with respect to its main attributes)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "feeling"):

calmness (a feeling of calm; an absence of agitation or excitement)

shame (a painful emotion resulting from an awareness of inadequacy or guilt)

pride; pridefulness (a feeling of self-respect and personal worth)

humbleness; humility (a humble feeling)

amazement; astonishment (the feeling that accompanies something extremely surprising)

devastation (the feeling of being confounded or overwhelmed)

expectation (the feeling that something is about to happen)

levity (feeling an inappropriate lack of seriousness)

gravity; solemnity (a solemn and dignified feeling)

sensitiveness; sensitivity (sensitivity to emotional feelings (of self and others))

agitation (the feeling of being agitated; not calm)

emotion (any strong feeling)

bravery; fearlessness (feeling no fear)

happiness (emotions experienced when in a state of well-being)

sadness; unhappiness (emotions experienced when not in a state of well-being)

hope (the general feeling that some desire will be fulfilled)

despair (the feeling that everything is wrong and nothing will turn out well)

affection; affectionateness; fondness; heart; philia; tenderness; warmheartedness; warmness (a positive feeling of liking)

humor; humour; mood; temper (a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling)

fellow feeling; sympathy (sharing the feelings of others (especially feelings of sorrow or anguish))

enthusiasm (a feeling of excitement)

ingratitude; ungratefulness (a lack of gratitude)

affect (the conscious subjective aspect of feeling or emotion)

thing (a persistent illogical feeling of desire or aversion)

glow (a feeling of considerable warmth)

faintness (a feeling of faintness and of being ready to swoon)

soul; soulfulness (deep feeling or emotion)

passion; passionateness (a strong feeling or emotion)

sentiment (tender, romantic, or nostalgic feeling or emotion)

complex ((psychoanalysis) a combination of emotions and impulses that have been rejected from awareness but still influence a person's behavior)

ambivalence; ambivalency (mixed feelings or emotions)

desire (the feeling that accompanies an unsatisfied state)

sex; sexual urge (all of the feelings resulting from the urge to gratify sexual impulses)

pleasance; pleasure (a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience)

pain; painfulness (emotional distress; a fundamental feeling that people try to avoid)

pang; stab; twinge (a sudden sharp feeling)

liking (a feeling of pleasure and enjoyment)

dislike (a feeling of aversion or antipathy)

gratitude (a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation)

unconcern (a feeling of lack of concern)

apathy (an absence of emotion or enthusiasm)

Derivation:

feel (undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A vague idea in which some confidence is placed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

belief; feeling; impression; notion; opinion

Context example:

I had a feeling that she was lying

Hypernyms ("feeling" is a kind of...):

idea; thought (the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "feeling"):

presence (the impression that something is present)

effect (an impression (especially one that is artificial or contrived))

first blush (at the first glimpse or impression)

hunch; intuition; suspicion (an impression that something might be the case)

Derivation:

feel (come to believe on the basis of emotion, intuitions, or indefinite grounds)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

feel; feeling; flavor; flavour; look; smell; spirit; tone

Context example:

it had the smell of treason

Hypernyms ("feeling" is a kind of...):

ambiance; ambience; atmosphere (a particular environment or surrounding influence)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "feeling"):

Hollywood (a flashy vulgar tone or atmosphere believed to be characteristic of the American film industry)

Zeitgeist (the spirit of the time; the spirit characteristic of an age or generation)

Derivation:

feel (undergo passive experience of)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A physical sensation that you experience

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

he lost all feeling in his arm

Hypernyms ("feeling" is a kind of...):

somaesthesia; somatesthesia; somatic sensation; somesthesia (the perception of tactual or proprioceptive or gut sensations)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "feeling"):

constriction; tightness (a tight feeling in some part of the body)

Derivation:

feel (perceive by a physical sensation, e.g., coming from the skin or muscles)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The sensation produced by pressure receptors in the skin

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

feeling; tactile sensation; tactual sensation; touch; touch sensation

Context example:

the surface had a greasy feeling

Hypernyms ("feeling" is a kind of...):

perception (the process of perceiving)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "feeling"):

creepiness (an uneasy sensation as of insects creeping on your skin)

cutaneous sensation; haptic sensation; skin sensation (a sensation localized on the skin)

Derivation:

feel (examine by touch)

Sense 6

Meaning:

An intuitive understanding of something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

feeling; intuitive feeling

Context example:

he had a great feeling for music

Hypernyms ("feeling" is a kind of...):

intuition (instinctive knowing (without the use of rational processes))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "feeling"):

sprachgefuhl (an intuitive feeling for the natural idiom of a language)

 Context examples 

Do not trouble about my feelings.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Also, Hans was feeling very sick.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

I had a feeling—no, I don’t know what I’m talking about.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

You know I loved that girl and wanted to marry her; but, although that's all past and gone, I can't help feeling anxious about her all the same.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

But I have a feeling that I am what I may call a natural student.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

It was he who gave me the information about Lord Saltire’s feelings.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then I left it, feeling a weight at my heart such as I had never had before.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"What shall you tell her?" asked Meg, full of curiosity to know his opinion of her, yet feeling ill at ease with him for the first time.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

So he started out to look for the cave and his mother, feeling at the same time an overwhelming rush of loneliness and helplessness.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Because I have never been without that feeling that something malevolent was watching us.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)