subjectivity

noun

sub·​jec·​tiv·​i·​ty (ˌ)səb-ˌjek-ˈti-və-tē 

: the quality, state, or nature of being subjective

Any attempt to link landscapes and music together can suffer from some measure of subjectivity.

—David J. Keeling

He thinks that scientists and philosophers have unjustly neglected the subjectivity of conscious experience and that this has made it harder for them to explain some of the workings of the mind.

—Anthony Gottlieb

Examples of subjectivity in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This is music as subjectivity, and a supreme example of Portman’s gift: Marshaling the power of a full orchestra to achieve an intimate understanding of a singular human life. —Indiewire Staff, IndieWire, 14 Aug. 2024

Of course, there is a subjectivity to analyzing human, let alone animal, emotion. —Issy Ronald, CNN, 25 July 2024

Although the subjectivity that comes with the individuality of judges inevitably matters, the less that personalities matter, the more the law rules. —John Harrison, National Review, 25 July 2024

And this is not only because to have a center is to be well settled into one’s subjectivity, resigned to one’s blind spots, but also because many of us are unenthusiastic about thinking of ourselves as fastened to a silent doctrine. —Hisham Matar, Harper's Magazine, 21 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1803, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

subjectivity

noun

sub·​jec·​tiv·​i·​ty ˌsəb-jek-ˈtiv-ət-ē 

plural subjectivities

1

: subjective character, quality, state, or nature

2

: the personal qualities of an investigator that affect the outcome of scientific or medical research (as by unconsciously communicating a bias to the subject of the experiment)