discernment Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun the cognitive condition of someone who understands
apprehension; savvy; understanding.
- he has virtually no understanding of social cause and effect
noun delicate discrimination (especially of aesthetic values)
taste; appreciation; perceptiveness.
- arrogance and lack of taste contributed to his rapid success
- to ask at that particular time was the ultimate in bad taste
noun perception of that which is obscure
perceptiveness.
noun the mental ability to understand and discriminate between relations
judgement; sagacity; sagaciousness; judgment.
noun the trait of judging wisely and objectively
discretion.
- a man of discernment

Cf. F. discernement.

The act of discerning.
The power or faculty of the mind by which it distinguishes one thing from another; power of viewing differences in objects, and their relations and tendencies; penetrative and discriminate mental vision; acuteness; sagacity; insight; as, the errors of youth often proceed from the want of discernment. Syn. -- Judgment; acuteness; discrimination; penetration; sagacity; insight. -- Discernment, Penetration, Discrimination. Discernment is keenness and accuracy of mental vision; penetration is the power of seeing deeply into a subject in spite of everything that intercepts the view; discrimination is a capacity of tracing out minute distinctions and the nicest shades of thought. A discerning man is not easily misled; one of a penetrating mind sees a multitude of things which escape others; a discriminating judgment detects the slightest differences.