I. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English felinge, feling, from felen to feel + -inge, -ing -ing — more at feel I
1.
a. : the one of the five senses of which the skin is the chief end organ and of which the sensations of touch, contact, temperature, and pressure are characteristic
b. : a sensation experienced through this sense ; especially : a sensation of touch
2. : a sensation, a complex of sensations, or a perception belonging to the more general forms of sensibility:
a. : bodily consciousness : organic sensation
b. : a generalized sensation involving touch, contact, temperature, pressure, or physical pain or pleasure
c. : appreciative or responsive awareness or recognition
experience a feeling of safety
a feeling of injury followed the unfair decision of the court
d. : sympathetic aesthetic response
3.
a. : the undifferentiated background of one's awareness considered apart from any identifiable sensation, perception, or thought
b. : the overall quality of one's awareness especially as measured along a pleasantness-unpleasantness continuum — compare affect I 2, emotion
4.
a. : the condition of one that feels : an emotional state : emotion
a kindly feeling inside him whenever he was treated decently
experienced a feeling of pride at the accomplishment
a feeling of reverential awe for these immemorial shelters — Norman Douglas
also : a particular emotion
human feelings — human hopes, aspirations, fears, and sorrows — H.R.Collins
b. feelings plural : sensibilities
a biting remark that hurt the feelings of a good friend
c. : emotional reaction
so unable to control her feelings that she broke down and wept
specifically : the emotional reaction of one person or group to another or the emotional relationship of one person or group to another or of two persons or groups
wished to improve the feeling between the two countries
bad feeling existed wherever he went and he expected an outburst of hostilities at any moment
the act promoted the best feeling possible between the families
d. : a reaction consisting of or combining hostility, distrust, dislike, opposition, resentment, or hatred and usually marked by belligerence
there was feeling between the groups so we hesitated to intervene
feeling ran high at the proposal
e. : tender emotion : fondness , affection , love
don't have any feeling anymore about you — Louis Auchincloss
5.
a. : opinion , belief
asked the professor what his feelings were on the international crisis
b. : unreasoned opinion : frame of mind : emotional attitude : sentiment
expressing the feelings of an essentially irrational child
impossible to imagine the feeling about so controversial a person
6. : capacity to feel emotion : emotional responsiveness
found out how much feeling his mother really had
especially : delicate and sympathetic emotional responsiveness
a man of fine feeling
7.
a. : a character or quality ascribed to or associated with something as a result of one's impression or emotional state : feel , atmosphere
the place had the feeling of a haunted house
especially : the emotional quality (as of a work of art or literature) that calls to mind a particular era, period, place, culture, or civilization
a collection of scenic wallpapers that … have a slight Japanese feeling — New Yorker
a Baroque feeling in the architecture
the feeling of the outdoors has been realized with sky-blue ceiling and natural colors — Playthings
b. : the impression something gives to one observing or experiencing
thoroughfares and railways alive with busy traffic … give the feeling of energy and power — Samuel Valkenburg & Ellsworth Huntington
c. or feeling tone : the quality of a work of art which embodies, conveys, or is calculated to convey emotion
8. : the ability to deal with or handle something with sensitivity and facility — used with for
he has no true feeling for words — Geographical Journal
a young painter with a good feeling for color
9. : presentiment
recent attempts to combine quantum mechanics and electrodynamics have produced … relatively little feeling of a final result — W.V.Houston
these may all be short and scattered straws on which to base my feeling of a trend — W.I.Nichols
Synonyms:
affection , emotion , sentiment , passion : feeling , the most general of the terms in this connection, denotes any partly mental, partly physical (but not entirely sensory) response, or the resulting state, marked by pleasure, pain, attraction, or repulsion
hostile feelings toward strangers
the sentimental song aroused no feeling in him at all
expressions of patriotic feeling — D.W.Brogan
she had a feeling that all would be well — Gilbert Parker
affection is usually applied to feelings marked by inclination toward, liking, or fondness
his personality aroused the lasting affection of the generations of students he instructed — W.S.Rusk
the authors' affection for the buildings they have seen in China — Jane G. Mahler
without fear or favor, affection or ill-will — F.T.Giles
emotion usually suggests a condition that involves more of the total mental and physical response than does feeling , or implies feelings marked by a certain excitement or agitation
rousing the patriotic emotions of the citizenry — Oscar Handlin
every other emotion — affection, tenderness, sympathy, sentiment — Ellen Glasgow
the emotions which we ordinarily distinguish — ambition, lust, pity, pride, anger, and many others — Stuart Hampshire
sentiment suggests a larger intellectual element than do the other terms, applying commonly to an emotion inspired by an idea, often suggesting a refined or an affected feeling
one of the centers of anti-slavery sentiment — American Guide Series: Tennessee
a considerable sentiment in favor of the proposition — J.H.Easterby
man of liberal sentiments and cultivated understandings — T.B.Macaulay
passion suggests a strong, especially a controlling, emotion, implying urgency of desire (as for possession or revenge)
the love of dancing amounts almost to a passion — American Guide Series: Louisiana
this consuming passion for law — H.E.Scudder
Synonym: see in addition sensation .
II. adjective
Etymology: Middle English feling, from felen to feel + -inge, -ing -ing (alteration of -inde, -ende )
1.
a. : sentient , sensitive
not a mere lump of clay but a feeling creature
: having the capacity to feel or respond emotionally
b. : easily affected or moved emotionally
a feeling heart
2. : expressing or evincing great sensitivity or emotional susceptibility
wrote in passonate feeling language
3. obsolete : deeply or keenly felt
a feeling grief
• feel·ing·ness noun -es