Meaning & use
subjective
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Meaning
adjectivecomparable
Based on personal feelings, taste, experience, or opinion rather than independent measurement.
Grammar: Use more subjective or highly subjective; do not form subjectiver.
Patterns
- subjective judgment
- subjective opinion
- highly subjective
- remain subjective
Whether the soup is too salty is subjective.
Her review was honest but highly subjective.
Test scores are objective; enjoyment is subjective.
Common combinations
- subjective opinion
- That is a subjective opinion, not a measured result.
- subjective experience
- Pain is a subjective experience that differs from person to person.
- highly subjective
- Choosing a favorite color is highly subjective.
- subjective judgment
- The final grade includes a subjective judgment of creativity.
Synonyms and how they differ
- personal
- Personal simply concerns the person; subjective stresses that the view cannot be independently verified.
- biased
- Biased adds unfair preference; subjective can be fair but still perspective-based.
- relative
- Relative depends on standpoint or context; subjective is tied to a person's mind or feelings.
- intuitive
- Intuitive is based on feeling rather than proof, but it does not necessarily involve judgment or opinion.
Opposites
Word family
- subjectivity noun
- The quality of being shaped by personal perspective.
- subjectively adverb
- In a way based on personal judgment rather than external fact.
Commonly confused: subjective or objective? subjective or subjected?
subjective vs objective
Objective means based on measurable facts; subjective means based on personal perspective.
subjective vs subjected
Subjected means exposed to something, as in subjected to pressure; it is not about opinion.
Practice
Beauty is largely ___, while mass can be measured.
Choose one answer.
The contrast with measurable mass points to perspective-based judgment, so subjective fits. Objective is the opposite idea, and absolute or identical do not create the contrast.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “subjective”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.