incorporeal

American  

[in-kawr-pawr-ee-uhl, -pohr-] / ˌɪn kɔrˈpɔr i əl, -ˈpoʊr- /

adjective

1. not corporeal or material; insubstantial.

   Synonyms:

   immaterial, spiritual, bodiless

2. of, relating to, or characteristic of nonmaterial beings.

3. Law. without material existence but existing in contemplation of law, as a franchise.

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incorporeal British  

/ ɪnˌkɔːpəˈriːɪtɪ, ˌɪnkɔːˈpɔːrɪəl /

adjective

1. without material form, body, or substance

2. spiritual or metaphysical

3. law having no material existence but existing by reason of its annexation of something material, such as an easement, touchline, copyright, etc

   an incorporeal hereditament

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Other Word Forms

• incorporeality noun
• incorporeally adverb
• incorporeity noun

Etymology

Origin of incorporeal

1525–35; < Latin incorpore ( us ) + -al ¹. See in- ³, corporeal

Example Sentences

Those $200 in chips made the questions of financial responsibility that loomed over me in every other avenue of my life gloriously incorporeal.

From Slate • Nov. 18, 2025

He investigates a service that promises to make him incorporeal, to “get rid of the burden of having a body” — because of that “mole,” I guess.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 7, 2024

“It would mean that any criticism of the central government can be described as a terrorist act because the honor of India is its incorporeal property,” the court said in its bail order.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 24, 2023

One of the boys, Youssef, has a shapeshifting double named Brother who is “more than incorporeal but less than living” and follows along as each member of the family determines his place in the world.

From New York Times • Jun. 30, 2022

In Weep it was she who was the ghost, and an unbound one, invisible, incorporeal, insubstantial as a murmur.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor