out-of-body

[out-uhv-bod-ee]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characterized by the dissociative sensation of perceiving oneself from an external vantage point, as though the mind or soul has left the body and is acting on its own.

   an alleged out-of-body experience.

Word History and Origins

Origin of out-of-body¹

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

For years, scientists dismissed these accounts as fantasy, but are now beginning to think otherwise, that the notion of an out-of-body experience, in which our consciousness delinks from our brains and acts as a receiver of another, universal consciousness, isn’t just science fiction.

From Los Angeles Times

“If you asked me eight years ago, ‘Do you believe in out-of-body experiences,’ I’d attribute it to drug hallucinations.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s an out-of-body experience and just comes from somewhere else.

From Los Angeles Times

The anterior precuneus, situated between the brain’s two hemispheres, has also been linked to out-of-body experiences.

From Salon

Even psychedelic experiences or other out-of-body experiences ultimately boil down to signals in the brain that can be jarring when they disrupt the thought patterns or narrative that our “self” has been telling us, Metzinger explained.

From Salon