Word
omniscient
Phoneticsom·ni·scient
US/ɑmˈnɪʃənt/
UK/ɒmnˈɪsiənt/
Definition
adj. knowing or seeing everything. In books, it describes a narrator who knows the thoughts and feelings of all the characters.
adj. having infinite knowledge or awareness; all-knowing. In a literary context, it refers to a narrator with access to the thoughts and feelings of all characters and events.
Examples
“The author uses an omniscient narrator to tell the story.”
“Unlike a first-person perspective, an omniscient narrator can jump between different characters' minds and reveal secrets they do not know.”
“The novel's omniscient narrator provides a detached, comprehensive view of the village, allowing the reader to see the hidden motivations of every resident.”
Examples
simple
“The author uses an omniscient narrator to tell the story.”
contextual
“Unlike a first-person perspective, an omniscient narrator can jump between different characters' minds and reveal secrets they do not know.”
complex
“The novel's omniscient narrator provides a detached, comprehensive view of the village, allowing the reader to see the hidden motivations of every resident.”
Real-World Examples
“The 38-year-old musician’s previous records – 2019’s Pony, 2022’s Bronco and 2024’s Stampede – were laced with metaphor, at times unspooling like the dusty tales of an omniscient, enigmatic gunslinger.” “Badu has always been interested in this theme, but it feels different this time, as if she is an omniscient narrator, spreading wisdom to the world.” Etymology
From Medieval Latin omnisciens (“all-knowing”), from Latin omnis (“all”) + sciens (“knowing”) (further analysable via scient).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/omniscient