Meaning & use

compos mentis

adjective·Advanced

Having full control of one's mind; sane and capable of rational thought and decision-making.

See it in a sentence

The lawyer confirmed that the elderly client was fully compos mentis when she signed the will.

He seemed barely compos mentis after being woken suddenly in the middle of the night.

A note on using this word

Compos mentis is a Latin legal phrase, used especially to confirm that a person was mentally competent when making a decision such as signing a will.

Words with a similar meaning

sanelucid

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

non compos mentis

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “compos mentis”, then compare your use with the examples above.

Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.