Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Sensational |
SensationalAdjective1. Causing intense interest, curiosity, or emotion. 2. Commanding attention; "an arresting drawing of people turning into animals"; "a sensational concert--one never to be forgotten"; "a stunning performance". 3. Relating to or concerned in sensation; "the sensory cortex"; "sensory organs". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "sensational" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1868. (references) |
Synonyms: SensationalSynonyms: arresting (adj), sensory (adj), stunning (adj). (additional references) |
| Antonym: unsensational (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Excitation | Exciting, absorbing, riveting, distracting; Verb: impressive, warm, glowing, fervid, swelling, imposing, spirit-stirring, thrilling; high-wrought; soul-stirring, soul-subduing; heart-stirring, heart-swelling, heart-thrilling; agonizing; (painful); telling, sensational, hysterical; overpowering, overwhelming; more than flesh and blood can bear; yellow. |
Vigor | Adjective: vigorous, nervous, powerful, forcible, trenchant, incisive, impressive; sensational. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Sensational |
| English words defined with "sensational": arresting ♦ ballyhoo, bombshell ♦ coup de theatre ♦ Dime novel, dramatic ♦ Hearst, hoopla, hype ♦ plug ♦ screamer, sensationally, shocker, spectacular, striking, stunning ♦ William Randolph Hearst ♦ Yellow-covered literature. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "sensational": Burglarize ♦ Letter ♦ Penny Dredfuls, Penny Gaff ♦ Ropes. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "sensational": Yellow-covered. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I am wonderful, I'm nuts about me, and if you're stupid enough to throw someone sensational like me aside, you don't deserve as good as you've got. (Chapter Two; writing credit: Neil Simon) Wrong! It's the most fabulous sensational gum in the whole world (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory; writing credit: Roald Dahl) | |
Movie/TV Titles | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
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Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Detail of "A diver in full costume making a sensational descent." Cover of "Scientific American Supplement," Vol. LXXX, Number 2077, October 23, 1915. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now. |  | "A diver in full costume making a sensational descent." Cover of "Scientific American Supplement," Vol. LXXX, Number 2077, October 23, 1915. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now. |
 | Morrision's production of the new sensational melo-drama, The Indian. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Lost in the desert the sensational event of the year : a drama on new and original lines : by Owen Davis. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | The famous Rentz Santley Novelty and Burlesque Co. first time in America : the sensational scene, gay life in Paris, introducing Jardine Mabile Dance. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Leonzo Bros. sensational artists and the great dog, Tiger. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | The sensational comedy-drama taken from life, Kidnapped in New York by Howard Hall. Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "Sensational Views" by Mary Tamaki Commentary: "New York, New York, Las Vegas." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Author | Quotation |
Oscar Wilde | I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read on the train. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Civil Liberties | Sierra Leone | The number of newspapers fluctuated weekly; many contained sensational, undocumented stories and repeated items carried by other newspapers. (references) |
Nigeria | By the end of 2000, five major daily newspapers, one newsmagazine, and several sensational evening newspapers and tabloid publications had begun publication. (references) | |
Nicaragua | Some journalists believe that the law was passed to discourage them from pursuing their usual style of campaign reporting in an election year, which is investigative, accusatorial, and sensational. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Walter Cronkite | Well, the Kennedy landing wasn't so sensational. I kept thinking, we might see where the towers used to be, but that was not so. We didn't come in that route. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "Sensational" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 97.63% of the time. "Sensational" is used about 464 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 97.63% | 453 | 12,868 |
| Noun (proper) | 2.37% | 11 | 106,044 |
| Total | 100.00% | 464 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "sensational": sensational murder ♦ sensational trial. Additional references. | |
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "sensational": cinematically-sensational, near-sensational, non-sensational. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "sensational"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | sensacional (lurid), i bujshëm (huge, whacking). (various references) | |
Arabic | مثير (agitating, breathtaking, electrifying, excitant, excitative, exciting, fomenting, galvanizing, hair raising, impetus, incentive, inciting, inspiring, instigating, irritative, provocative, provoking, rousing, sore, spectacular, stimulant, stimulating, stimulative, stirring, thrilling), حلو (honey, lovely, nice, silky, sugary, sweet), حسي (object lesson, receptive, sensitive, sensory, sensual, tangible, voluptuous), حساس (compassionate, critical, emotional, feeling, fine, hypersensitive, impressionable, maudlin, responsive, sensible, sensitive, sentient, sentiment, sentimental, susceptible, sympathetic, temperamental, tender, tender-hearted, ticklish), عظيم (bestead, bulky, eminent, fantastic, gigantic, grand, great, magnificent, majestic, major, mighty, mogul, sizable, sublime, terrific), رائع (admirable, bonny, brag, brave, conspicuous, dazzling, ducks, ducky, effective, elegant, emphatic, entrancing, exceptional, exquisite, extraordinary, fabulous, felicitous, fine, glorious, gorgeous, grand, heavenly, in apple-pie order, irresistible, lovely, magnificent, marvellous, marvelous, mighty, miraculous, noteworthy, out of this world, outstanding, palmy, picturesque, portentous, precious, prestigious, rattling, recherche, remarkable, ripening, ripping, showy, sightly, signal, singular, smash, smashing, solid, some, spanking, sparkling, splendid, stunning, stupendous, super, superb, swell, terrific, topping, tremendous, uncommon, wonder, wonderful, wondrous). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | сетивен (material, sensate, sense, sensible, sensorial, sensory, sensual, sensuous), сензационен (lurid, red-hot, scare, sultry, thrilling, yellow). (various references) | |
Chinese | 引起轰动. (various references) | |
Czech | senzaèní (delicious, fine, gorgeous, grand, great, groovy, hot, magic, mean, smashing, startling, stunning, swell, terrific, thrilling, wonderful). (various references) | |
Danish | kolportageroman (cheap sensational novel). (various references) | |
Dutch | sensationeel (lurid), geruchtmakend (lurid). (various references) | |
Esperanto | sensacia (lurid). (various references) | |
Farsi | مهیج (Dramatic, Racy, Stimulant, Unco), موثر (Drastic, Effective, Efficacious, Impressive, Live, Operative, Pathetic, Pithy, Pivotal, Valid, Weighty), حسی (Intuitive, Sensory), احساساتی (Ebullient, Gushy, Mushy, Passionate, Pathetic, Rosewater, Sentiment), شورانگیز. (various references) | |
Finnish | sensaatiomainen, huomiotaherättävä (conspicuous, striking). (various references) | |
French | sensationnel (super sensitive), sensass, impressionnant, formidable. (various references) | |
German | sensationell (exciting, lurid, sensationally, spectacular, thrilling), aufsehenerregend. (various references) | |
Greek | συγκλονιστικόσ (concussive, epoch making, shocking, stirring), προξενών εντύπωση, προξενών αίσθηση, παταγώδησ (noisy), εντυπωσιακόσ (arresting, impressive, startling, thrilling), εντυπωσιακός (impressive, stunning), θεαματικός (spectacular). (various references) | |
Hebrew | רעשני (blatant, noisy, riotous, rip roaring, rowdy), סנסציוני. (various references) | |
Hungarian | szenzációs (lurid, sensationist, thrilling), világraszóló, feltűnést keltő, érzéki (amatory, amorous, carnal, concupiscent, erotic, lecherous, libidinous, luscious, prurient, salacious, sensory, sensual, sensuous, voluptuous), érzékelő (perceptive, sensor), érzékektől függő. (various references) | |
Indonesian | menghebohkan (cause a commotion, horrendous). (various references) | |
Italian | sensazionale (lurid). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 驚倒 , 煽情的 (inflammatory, lascivious), 扇情的 (inflammatory, lascivious), 扇情 , セル付 (10^-2, a center, bottle cap, celery, cellophane tape, center, centering, centi-, centimeter, centre, ceremony, facility providing funeral services, good sense, Scotch tape, select, selection, selector, selenium, sensation, sensor, serenade, stopper, with a self-starter). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | きょうとう (commonfront, deputy head teacher, gang, gangsters, joint struggle, people from one's hometown, vice principal), せんじょうてき (inflammatory, lascivious), せんじょう (a streak, audacity, battlefield, battleground, cleaning, fan form, filament, forwardness, irrigation, line, linear, rifling, suggestiveness, washing), センセーショナル . (various references) | |
Manx | ard-haghyrtagh. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ensationalsay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | sensorial (sensory), sensacional (fantastic, fantastical, lurid, startling, terrific, thrilling), sensacionais, que causa sensação, melodramático (melodramatic), extraordinário (amazing, exquisite, extra, extraordinary, formidable, king-size, miraculous, particular, phenomenal, prodigious, rare, remarkable, shining, singular, special, sublime, surpassing, transcendent, tremendous, uncommon, unusual, unwonted), estupendo (boss, monumental, prodigious, stupendous). (various references) | |
Portuguese Brazilian | sensacionais. (various references) | |
Romanian | senzaţional (rattling, startling, thrilling), bulevardier. (various references) | |
Russian | сенсационный (blockbusting). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | senzacionalan (thrilling), osećajni. (various references) | |
Spanish | sensacional (hit, lurid, thrilling). (various references) | |
Swedish | sinnes- (mental, sensory, sensuous, sentient), sensationell (thrilling), uppseendeväckande (ostentatious, startling). (various references) | |
Thai | เกี่ยวกับความรู้สึก, น่าดึงดูดใจ (fascinated, jazzy, scenic), ยิ่งใหญ่ (majestic). (various references) | |
Turkish | sansasyonel (splashy), hissi (emotional, sensual, sensuous, sentimental), heyecan verici (electric, exciting, orgiastic, rousing, stirring, thrilling), duyumcu, duygusal (affective, emotional, emotive, feeling, sensual, sensuous, sentimental, soulful, susceptible, susceptive). (various references) | |
Turkmen | юowhunly (loud, noisy). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | сенсаційний (socko, splashy), чуттєвий (sensual, sensuous, voluptuous), блискучий (brilliant, coruscating, crackajack, crackerjack, crackling, glossy, incandescent, lambent, luminous, lustrous, nitid, oriental, polished, quicksilver, radiant, resplendent, shining, showy, signal, sparkling, splendent, splendid). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | giật gân, gây xúc động mạnh làm náo động dư luận. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "sensational": sensationalise, sensationalised, sensationalises, sensationalising, sensationalism, sensationalisms, sensationalist, sensationalistic, sensationalists, sensationalize, sensationalized, sensationalizes, sensationalizing, sensationally. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "sensational": nonsensational, unsensational. (additional references) | |
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"Sensational" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: sentational. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "sensational" (pronounced sensā"shunul) |
| 7 | -s ā" sh u n u l | conversational. |
| 6 | -ā" sh u n u l | aberrational, coeducational, computational, conformational, confrontational, congregational, connotational, denominational, educational, foundational, generational, gravitational, improvisational, informational, inspirational, intergenerational, investigational, Invitational, motivational, navigational, occupational, operational, organizational, recreational, relational, representational, rotational, situational, transformational, vocational. |
| 5 | -sh u n u l | additional, binational, compositional, concessional, conditional, confessional, congressional, constitutional, conventional, correctional, depositional, devotional, dimensional, directional, dysfunctional, emotional, exceptional, factional, fictional, fluxional, fractional, functional, supranational, institutional, instructional, intentional, international, irrational, jurisdictional, multinational, national, nonprofessional, nontraditional, nutritional, obsessional, optional, processional, professional, promotional, proportional, rational, sectional, traditional, transitional, transnational, unconditional, unconstitutional, unconventional, unemotional, unintentional, unprofessional, untraditional. |
| 4 | -u n u l | abdominal, aboriginal, Arsenal, attitudinal, biphenyl, cantonal, Cardinal, collisional, criminal, delusional, diagonal, divisional, doctrinal, duodenal, erosional, gastrointestinal, hexagonal, impersonal, subliminal, superregional, terminal, interpersonal, intestinal, juvenile, latitudinal, longitudinal, luminal, marginal, medicinal, nominal, noncriminal, occasional, octagonal, original, personal, phenomenal, polygonal, provisional, regional, retinal, seasonal, seminal, sentinel, virginal. |
| 3 | -n u l | infernal, adrenal, anal, annal, annul, atonal, autumnal, carnal, channel, Colonel, communal, cornel, Darnel, departmental, diurnal, empanel, eternal, external, faunal, fennel, final, flannel, fraternal, funnel, hormonal, Hymnal, impanel, spinal, internal, journal, kennel, kernel, maternal, monoclonal, monsoonal, morainal, nocturnal, panel, paternal, penal, polyvinyl, renal, semifinal, shrapnel, signal, tonal, tribunal, tunnel, vaginal, venal, vernal, Vinal, vinyl. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-a-e-i-l-n-n-o-s-s-t" | |
-1 letter: nanoteslas, santolinas. | |
-2 letters: annalists, insolates, insolents, nanotesla, nationals, santolina, sensation, solanines, sonatinas, tensional. | |
-3 letters: alanines, alations, anisoles, annalist, antlions, assonant, astonies, elastins, elations, enations, entasias, insanest, insolate, insolent, isolates, nailsets, nasalise, national, neonatal, onanists, salients, saltines, sealants, seasonal, solanine, solanins, sonantal, sonatina, sonatine, stanines, tensions, toenails. | |
-4 letters: aeolian, aeonian, alanine, alanins, alation, aliases, anisole. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-a-e-i-l-n-n-o-s-s-t" | |
+1 letter: nationalises, rationalness. | |
+2 letters: desalinations, sensationally, unsensational. | |
+3 letters: dispensational, encapsulations, nonsensational, rationalnesses, retranslations, sensationalise, sensationalism, sensationalist, sensationalize, sensualization. | |
+4 letters: desalinizations, generalisations, instantaneously, reinstallations, sensationalised, sensationalises, sensationalisms, sensationalists, sensationalized, sensationalizes, sensualizations. | |
+5 letters: externalisations, gastrointestinal, latensifications, personalizations, postmillenarians, sensationalising, sensationalistic, sensationalizing, transliterations. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Images: Digital Art 8. Quotations: Familiar | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Quotations: Spoken 11. Usage Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
