wise, sage, sapient, judicious, prudent, sensible, sane mean having or showing sound judgment. wise suggests great understanding of people and of situations and unusual discernment and judgment in dealing with them.
wise beyond his tender years sage suggests wide experience, great learning, and wisdom.
the sage advice of my father sapient suggests great sagacity and discernment.
the sapient musings of an old philosopher judicious stresses a capacity for reaching wise decisions or just conclusions.
judicious parents using kindness and discipline in equal measure prudent suggests the exercise of restraint guided by sound practical wisdom and discretion.
a prudent decision to wait out the storm sensible applies to action guided and restrained by good sense and rationality.
a sensible woman who was not fooled by flattery sane stresses mental soundness, rationality, and levelheadedness.
remained sane even in times of crises
It Is Prudent to Read Up on This Word History
Prudent arrived in Middle English around the 14th century and traces back, by way of Middle French, to the Latin verb providēre, meaning "to see ahead, foresee, provide (for). "Providēre" combines pro-, meaning "before, and vidēre, meaning "to see, and it may look familiar to you; it is also the source of our "provide," "provident," "provision," and "improvise." "Vidēre" also has many English offspring, including "evident," "supervise," "video," and "vision."
Examples of prudent in a Sentence
An endless war is not always the most moral or the most prudent course of action.— Richard A. Posner, New Republic, 2 Sept. 2002We missed the Mass for St. Rose of Lima, who, though prudent, had failed to be martyred and was therefore only second-string.— Darryl Pinckney, High Cotton, 1992Prudent burners take several precautions. Burning one of two bordering fields, they wet the edge of one or the other, usually the one being burned, to prevent the flames from jumping.— Alec Wilkinson, Big Sugar, 1989Since the inexplicable power of a magnetized needle to "find" the north smacked of black magic …  . For many decades the prudent sea captain consulted his compass secretly.— Daniel J. Boorstin, The Discoverers, 1983
He always listened to her prudent advice.
You made a prudent choice.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'prudent.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.