mantra
Americannoun
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Hinduism. a word or formula, as from the Veda, chanted or sung as an incantation or prayer.
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an often repeated word, formula, or phrase, often a truism.
If I hear the “less is more” mantra one more time, I'll scream.
noun
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Hinduism any of those parts of the Vedic literature which consist of the metrical psalms of praise
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Hinduism Buddhism any sacred word or syllable used as an object of concentration and embodying some aspect of spiritual power
Other Word Forms
- mantric adjective
Etymology
Origin of mantra
Borrowed into English from Sanskrit around 1800–10
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.
I put a lot of pressure on myself this year, complete opposite of the mantra from last year that really helped me, so I tried to get back to that.
From BBC • Apr. 5, 2026
It’s been a standard mantra of financial advisers and commentators for about two generations.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 20, 2026
To quote an old UFW slogan that Chavez transformed into a mantra, la lucha sigue — the fight continues.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026
It shattered the Windsor mantra of “never complain, never explain,” stripping back the mystique of monarchy, revealing a somewhat dysfunctional family trapped inside an institution it struggles to manage.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026
Furthermore, Ulbrickson told Brougham, Bobby Moch had a new mantra when he called for extra effort: “Take Ten for RB.”
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
