Meaning & use
omniscience
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountableformalreligion
The state of knowing everything, especially as a quality attributed to God.
Grammar: Uncountable: no plural and no article in general use — divine omniscience, not an omniscience.
Patterns
- divine omniscience
- belief in God's omniscience
Many religions teach the omniscience of God.
The psalm praises the omniscience of the Creator.
Theologians debate how human freedom fits with divine omniscience.
noununcountableliterarytechnical
In storytelling, a narrator's ability to know and report every character's thoughts and feelings.
Grammar: Used as a technical label for a narrative technique, usually with the: the omniscience of the narrator.
Patterns
- narrative omniscience
- the narrator's omniscience
The novel's third-person omniscience lets us enter every character's mind.
Critics praised the author's easy shift into omniscience.
Too much omniscience can make a story feel distant.
noununcountablefigurative
Extremely wide knowledge of a subject, as if someone knew everything about it.
Grammar: Often slightly exaggerated or humorous: no one really has omniscience.
Patterns
- claim omniscience
- a reputation for omniscience
No editor has omniscience about every field.
His tone suggested a quiet omniscience about the whole industry.
The internet gives an illusion of omniscience.
Common combinations
- divine omniscience
- The sermon focused on divine omniscience and mercy.
- third-person omniscience
- The story uses third-person omniscience to move between two families.
- claim omniscience
- A good scientist never claims omniscience.
- an illusion of omniscience
- Search engines create an illusion of omniscience.
Synonyms and how they differ
- all-knowingness
- A rare, literal equivalent; omniscience is the standard word and sounds more formal and established.
- wisdom
- Wisdom means good judgment built from experience, not literally knowing everything.
Opposites
Word family
- omniscient adjective
- Knowing everything; the usual adjective form.
- omnisciently adverb
- In a way that shows complete knowledge; rare.
- omnipotent adjective
- All-powerful, a related religious term often paired with omniscient.
Commonly confused: omniscience or omnipotence? omniscience or omniscient?
omniscience vs omnipotence
Omnipotence means unlimited power, while omniscience means unlimited knowledge; religions often mention both together.
omniscience vs omniscient
The adjective; use omniscience for the noun: the narrator's omniscience, but an omniscient narrator.
Practice
Choose the sentence that uses "omniscience" correctly.
Choose one answer.
Omniscience is the uncountable quality of knowing everything, which fits a narrator who knows all thoughts. It cannot be bought or get tired, and a quick ruling is efficiency or decisiveness, not knowledge of everything.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “omniscience”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.