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.
Dominick Perrotta, an insurance adjuster who cared for his dying mom, repeated this mantra every time a negative thought popped into his head: “This is not helpful.”
"That's the way we play," is a mantra of this England team and it is one of their failings.
From BBC
Maybe the "us against the world" mantra is something that can drive the team on towards the heights that they have so far been unable to get to.
From BBC
"Keep capacity tight, keep prices high is basically their mantra," he said.
From Barron's
In interviews, she is fond of sharing her mantra: “I want a director to work with me, not on me.”
From Los Angeles Times
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.
