spiritualism
Americannoun
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the belief or doctrine that the spirits of the dead, surviving after the mortal life, can and do communicate with the living, especially through a person (a medium) particularly susceptible to their influence.
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the practices or phenomena associated with this belief.
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the belief that all reality is spiritual.
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Metaphysics. any of various doctrines maintaining that the ultimate reality is spirit or mind.
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spiritual quality or tendency.
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insistence on the spiritual side of things, as in philosophy or religion.
noun
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the belief that the disembodied spirits of the dead, surviving in another world, can communicate with the living in this world, esp through mediums
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the doctrines and practices associated with this belief
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philosophy the belief that because reality is to some extent immaterial it is therefore spiritual
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any doctrine (in philosophy, religion, etc) that prefers the spiritual to the material
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the condition or quality of being spiritual
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of spiritualism
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Gef also caught the attention of adherents to Spiritualism, a then-popular movement that claimed humans could communicate with the spirit world through mediums and ghosts.
From National Geographic • Sep. 19, 2023
Spiritualism may have spurred her archaeological patronage, just as it motivated investigations at other famous sites, especially Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset.
From Salon • Feb. 8, 2021
Practitioners of Spiritualism even claimed to communicate with the dead, using séances and mysterious rapping sounds from table tops.
From Textbooks • Jan. 18, 2018
He was raised as a Baptist but now defines his religion as Spiritualism, a belief emphasizing reincarnation and communication with the spirits of the dead.
From New York Times • Oct. 17, 2014
This amazing demonstration set Robert Dale Owen on a path as a prominent investigator and spokesperson for the truth of Spiritualism.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
