paranormal
Americanadjective
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of paranormal
Explanation
Use the adjective paranormal to talk about things that are outside of normal experience, like ESP, ghosts, and UFOs. You might describe your friend's uncanny ability to bend spoons with her mind as paranormal, or beyond a scientific explanation. While many people don't believe in any kind of paranormal events, there are those who see or hear things they can't explain rationally. The Greek word para, "against, or contrary to," is paired up with normal: if it goes against what's normal, you can probably describe it as paranormal.
Vocabulary lists containing paranormal
Friday the 13th
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Trowbridge Road
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Paola Santiago and the River of Tears
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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 wouldn’t say I was a skeptic,” said Rhys of his mindset toward the paranormal before his castle experience.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 2026
They swapped rooms but the stay was - sadly - uneventful in paranormal terms.
From BBC • Oct. 31, 2025
“People would call in and give their accounts of all the paranormal sightings they would see,” she recalls.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 30, 2025
“We’ll finish what you started,” paranormal investigator Ryan Buell captioned his video.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 5, 2025
Is it more strained than claims that the skepticism of onlookers systematically prevents the occurrence of certain paranormal phenomena?
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
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.
