Difference between "seems like ...", "sounds like ..." and "feels like ..."

Yes I believe that there are differences.

"Sounds like" implies that the evidence is just words, usually spoken but could be written. "Seems like" could be used with any sort of evidence. "Feels like" is similar in meaning to "seems like", but suggests a higher degree of subjectivity - like it feels that way to me, but might feel differently to you.


I agree with David, however in certain situations the actual meaning or sensory route associated with verbs can simply be used to convey degree, for example te degree of truth perceived in the knowledge of the adventure. As such it can be said that

It feels like an adventure

is more definitive than

It sounds like an adventure

and so on in the same order as the sentences were presented.


At least as I would use it "sounds like an adventure" implies that you've heard or read a description, and imagine that what was described would (probably) be an adventure.

By contrast, "feels like an adventure" implies actual (current) experience, and considering what your experiencing adventurous. While I can certainly believe some people would use it to describe their reaction to a description, I would consider it slightly inaccurate in that context. "Feels like it would be an adventure" would probably be more accurate in that situation.

"Seems like an adventure" could carry either implication, depending on context. In reply to a description, it would be synonymous with "sounds...". In a journal entry from somebody hiking in the Amazon jungle, it would probably be synonymous with "feels like...". Without context, I'd say it's more likely to be synonymous with "sounds like...".