subjective

subjective — adjective

1. based on personal opinions, tastes, or feelings instead of on facts that can be

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

based on personal opinions, tastes, or feelings instead of on facts that can be measured or proven by everyone

Example

Deciding which film is better is subjective — Min loved it, Yara found it boring.

contrasts subjective reactions between two people

The teacher told the class the grades were based on technique, not on subjective taste.

subjective contrasted with objective criteria

Common collocations
  • subjective opinion
  • subjective judgment
  • subjective view
  • purely subjective
  • entirely subjective
  • highly subjective
  • subjective nature
Synonyms
  • personal

    broader in meaning; refers to private or individual matters, not just judgment

  • biased

    stronger negative connotation; implies unfairness rather than mere personal perspective

  • opinion-based

    more explicit about opinion as the source; less formal

  • individual

    emphasises one person's view rather than shared standards

Antonyms
  • objective

    based on measurable facts rather than personal feeling

  • impartial

    not influenced by personal feelings; fair to all sides

  • factual

    based on verifiable facts rather than opinion

Grammar Patterns

subjective + noun

be + subjective

more subjective than

Usage Note

Frequently contrasted with objective in discussions of fairness or accuracy. Many everyday statements about taste, preference, or opinion are subjective by nature — this does not make them invalid, only personal.

Common Mistakes

Please provide subjective data to support your argument.
Please provide objective data to support your argument.
Subjective data comes from personal feeling; objective data is measurable and factual.
My boss was being subjective' (meaning unfair).
My boss was being biased
Biased suggests unfair prejudice; subjective simply means based on personal perspective.

2. relating to thoughts, feelings, or perceptions that take place within a person's

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

relating to thoughts, feelings, or perceptions that take place within a person's consciousness, not in the observable external world

Example

A patient's subjective experience of pain can differ from what doctors observe on a scan.

collocation: subjective experience of pain

In psychology class, the students discussed how subjective memories often differ from what actually happened.

Common collocations
  • subjective experience
  • subjective perception
  • subjective reality
  • subjective state
  • subjective feeling
  • subjective awareness
Synonyms
  • internal

    emphasises the mind rather than the external world; less philosophical

  • mental

    focuses on mental processes; broader than subjective

  • inner

    more poetic or informal; suggests deeper personal feeling

  • personal

    general term; overlaps but less precise for mental-experience contexts

Antonyms
  • objective

    existing independently of the mind; verifiable by others

  • external

    belonging to the outside world rather than the mind

  • physical

    relating to the body or material world, not mental states

Grammar Patterns

subjective + noun (experience, perception, state)

Usage Note

Common in formal or academic writing, especially psychology and philosophy. Two people can experience the same external event yet report different subjective experiences — the difference lies inside their minds, not in the world around them.

Common Mistakes

The room temperature is subjective.
How the room temperature feels is subjective.
Temperature itself is measurable; only the personal perception of it is subjective.

subjective — noun

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Subjective, personal, biased, and opinion-based all relate to individual perspective, but they differ in scope and connotation. Subjective is the broadest and most neutral term, describing any view shaped by personal feelings rather than objective facts (e.g. "Taste in music is subjective"). Personal overlaps with subjective but extends beyond judgment to private life ("a personal matter"). Biased carries a stronger negative charge — it implies unfair prejudice rather than mere personal perspective. Opinion-based is more explicit about opinion as the source, and is common in casual or argumentative contexts ("That claim is purely opinion-based"). In academic writing, subjective is preferred for its neutrality; biased is used when fairness is at stake; personal suits informal descriptions; and opinion-based works for debate-style distinctions.

subjective ↗personal ↗biasedopinion-based

Common collocations

Nouns

  • subjective judgment
  • subjective experience
  • subjective opinion
  • subjective perception
  • subjective feeling
  • subjective view
  • subjective reality

Adverbs

  • highly subjective
  • entirely subjective
  • purely subjective
  • somewhat subjective
  • very subjective

Phrases

  • purely subjective matter
  • highly subjective area
  • entirely subjective decision

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Subjective comes from the Latin word subjectivus, meaning 'relating to the subject.' It was formed from subjectus (past participle of subicere — 'to place under') plus the suffix -ivus. The word first appeared in English in the 1400s as a term in grammar, referring to the subject of a sentence. Its modern meaning — 'based on personal perspective rather than external facts' — developed in the 1600s and 1700s through German and French philosophy, especially in the work of Immanuel Kant, who contrasted the subjective (what depends on the perceiver) with the objective (what exists independently).