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
Derived Forms
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:
Explanation
Psychological means mental or emotional rather than physical. After a shock, your problems, and even your physical pain, stem from psychological sources rather than any bodily ailment. The word psychological is used to describe things that are primarily mental or emotional, but it can also be used when referring to the field of psychology. You might be interested in studying the psychological issues of teen and childhood in college. Watch out if someone uses psychological warfare on you. He or she uses your own emotions to attack you as when someone tries to guilt you into doing something.
Vocabulary lists containing psychological
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
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myPerspectives 8.1
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Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
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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.
“The psychological trick I would play on myself at each meet was to imagine the water I’d dive into was freezing cold,” he says.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026
If a person in the diocese comes to fear that they or their loved one has been bodily possessed by a demon, the diocese launches an investigation involving medical, psychological, and psychiatric testing.
From Slate • Jun. 8, 2026
"We don't enter the world knowing how to use a mirror but learn how to use a mirror," says senior author and cognitive neuroscientist Peter Tse, a professor of psychological and brain sciences at Dartmouth.
From Science Daily • Jun. 5, 2026
Permata Bank chief economist Josua Pardede said an exchange rate of 18,000 was a "psychological threshold" for market investors.
From Barron's • Jun. 4, 2026
Du Bois described as “the public and psychological wage” paid to white workers, who depended on their status and privileges as whites to compensate for low pay and harsh working conditions.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
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.
