psychological
Americanadjective
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of or relating to psychology.
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pertaining to the mind or to mental phenomena as the subject matter of psychology.
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of, pertaining to, dealing with, or affecting the mind, especially as a function of awareness, feeling, or motivation.
psychological play;
psychological effect.
adjective
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of or relating to psychology
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of or relating to the mind or mental activity
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having no real or objective basis; arising in the mind
his backaches are all psychological
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affecting the mind
Other Word Forms
- nonpsychologic adjective
- nonpsychological adjective
- prepsychological adjective
- pseudopsychological adjective
- psychologically adverb
- semipsychologic adjective
- semipsychological adjective
- unpsychological adjective
Etymology
Origin of psychological
First recorded in 1785–95; psycholog(y) + -ical
Compare meaning
How does psychological compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
The Dow’s crossing of 50,000 is purely a psychological milestone with no real economic trigger or regulatory significance, as nothing changes materially at that precise moment.
From Los Angeles Times
“You can’t really address the psychological toll in a virtual environment.”
From Los Angeles Times
That kind of psychological scarring can shape our behaviour, for example in the scale of wage rises requested and so future inflation.
From BBC
But apart from ABC’s misbegotten “The Muppets,” 10 years gone — which attempted to make the crew darker, more adult, more psychological complex — I have been largely satisfied and often delighted.
From Los Angeles Times
“While that difference may sound modest numerically, it represents a meaningful psychological shift,” says DeVoe.
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.
