extrasensory perception

American  

noun

1. ESP.

---

extrasensory perception British  

noun

1. Also called: cryptaesthesia.   ESP.  the supposed ability of certain individuals to obtain information about the environment without the use of normal sensory channels See also clairvoyance telepathy

---

extrasensory perception Cultural  

1. Knowledge or perception without the use of any of the five senses. ESP includes clairvoyance (knowledge about some distant object or event, such as an unreported accident), telepathy (reading another's thoughts or sending one's own to another), and precognition (predicting the future). Although many people claim to have extrasensory powers, these powers have yet to be verified by scientific procedures. (See also parapsychology and psychic research.)

---

Etymology

Origin of extrasensory perception

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

The Clairvoyants perform mentalism, the branch of magic that encapsulates all things mind-reading, precognition and extrasensory perception.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 29, 2025

Pinker points out that 55 percent of Americans believe in psychic healing, and 41 percent believe in extrasensory perception, according to a 2005 Gallup survey.

From Salon • Nov. 4, 2021

Ralph dismisses such extrasensory perception as more liability than gift, especially since Michael grows increasingly frail by exercising his powers and comes to depend on Hilda for friendship, stability and reassurance.

From Washington Post • Mar. 24, 2021

She quotes a Harvard psychology professor, Deirdre Barrett, who accepted a paper on extrasensory perception for the academic journal Dreaming, which she edits.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 3, 2018

Most of Trout’s novels, after all, dealt with time warps and extrasensory perception and other unexpected things.

From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut