WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026sub•jec•tive /səbˈdʒɛktɪv/USA pronunciation
adj.
- Psychologyexisting in the mind and not necessarily in reality:a subjective impression that the building was leaning to the right.
- relating to or characteristic of an individual; personal:Such decisions about one's job satisfaction are almost always, by definition, subjective evaluations.
- placing too much emphasis on one's own moods, attitudes, etc.:You're too subjective when it comes to judging her work.
sub•jec•tive•ly, adv.: You're viewing all this too subjectively.
sub•jec•tiv•i•ty n./ˌsʌbdʒɛkˈtɪvɪti/USA pronunciation [uncountable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026sub•jec•tive
(səb jek′tiv),USA pronunciation adj.
- Psychologyexisting in the mind;
belonging to the thinking subject rather than to the object of thought (opposed to objective).
- pertaining to or characteristic of an individual;
personal;
individual:a subjective evaluation.
- placing excessive emphasis on one's own moods, attitudes, opinions, etc.;
unduly egocentric.
- Philosophyrelating to or of the nature of an object as it is known in the mind as distinct from a thing in itself.
- relating to properties or specific conditions of the mind as distinguished from general or universal experience.
- pertaining to the subject or substance in which attributes inhere;
essential.
- Grammar
- pertaining to or constituting the subject of a sentence.
- (in English and certain other languages) noting a case specialized for that use, as He in He hit the ball.
- similar to such a case in meaning. Cf. nominative.
- [Obs.]characteristic of a political subject;
submissive.
- Latin subjectīvus; see subject, -ive
- late Middle English: pertaining to a subject of a ruler 1400–50
1. mental. 6. substantial, inherent.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
subjective /səbˈdʒɛktɪv/ adj - belonging to, proceeding from, or relating to the mind of the thinking subject and not the nature of the object being considered
- of, relating to, or emanating from a person's emotions, prejudices, etc
- relating to the inherent nature of a person or thing; essential
- existing only as perceived and not as a thing in itself
- (of a symptom, condition, etc) experienced only by the patient and incapable of being recognized or studied by anyone else
- denoting a case of nouns and pronouns, esp in languages having only two cases, that identifies the subject of a finite verb and (in formal use in English) is selected for predicate complements, as in It is I
See also nominative
n - the subjective case
- a subjective word or speech element
Compare objectivesubˈjectively adv ˌsubjecˈtivity, subˈjectiveness n
'subjective' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):