Showing results for "psyche"

• a variation of psych.

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• psyche
  psyche

  verb (used with object)

  a variant of psych.
• Psyche
  Psyche

  noun

  a personification of the soul, which in the form of a beautiful girl was loved by Eros.

psyche

¹ American  

[sahyk] / saɪk /

verb (used with object)

psyched, psyching

1. a variant of psych.

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Psyche ² American  

[sahy-kee] / ˈsaɪ ki /

noun

1. Classical Mythology. a personification of the soul, which in the form of a beautiful girl was loved by Eros.

2. psyche,

   1. the human soul, spirit, or mind.

   2. Psychology, Psychoanalysis. the mental or psychological structure of a person, especially as a motive force.

3. Philosophy. (inNeoplatonism ) the second emanation of the One, regarded as a universal consciousness and as the animating principle of the world.

4. a female given name.

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Psyche ¹ British  

/ ˈsaɪkɪ /

noun

1. Greek myth a beautiful girl loved by Eros (Cupid), who became the personification of the soul

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psyche ² British  

/ ˈsaɪkɪ /

noun

1. the human mind or soul

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Psyche ¹ Cultural  

1. In Roman mythology, a beautiful girl who was visited each night in the dark by Cupid, who told her she must not try to see him. When she did try, while he was asleep, she accidentally dropped oil from her lamp on him, and he awoke and fled. After she had performed many harsh tasks set by Cupid's mother, Venus, Jupiter made her immortal, and she and Cupid were married. Her name is Greek for both “soul” and “butterfly.”

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psyche ² Cultural  

1. The mind, soul, or spirit, as opposed to the body. In psychology, the psyche is the center of thought, feeling, and motivation, consciously and unconsciously directing the body's reactions to its social and physical environment.

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Etymology

Origin of Psyche

First recorded in 1650–60 Psyche for def. 2a; from Latin psȳchē, from Greek psȳchḗ literally, “breath,” derivative of psȳ́chein “to breathe, blow,” hence, “live” ( see psycho-)

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Explanation

Another word for the place where your thoughts come from is your psyche. Not your actual brain, but whatever it is that generates all of your thoughts and emotions. Psyche comes from the Greek psykhe, which means “the soul, mind, spirit, or invisible animating entity which occupies the physical body.” That about sums the way we understand the word today. People have their own individual psyches of course, but you often hear the word used to describe the similar mind set or thought process of a group of people, such as "the American psyche."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

psyche Psyche psyched psyching

A bold and offbeat move, it draws upon notions of art and its place in the human psyche.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

The chip maker’s otherworldly growth has become so ingrained in Wall Street’s psyche that many investors expect the company to beat expectations, leaving shares sliding in six of the past eight post-earnings trading sessions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

As the writer and the actor spend time together, and the narrator tries to pry open some small window into M’s psyche, the process of gathering material is constantly being thwarted by M’s casual instructability.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

"It shapes your psyche and moulds your motivation to fight, so that in critical situations, you know you are capable of something more", said Karyi.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

It’s not much of a stretch to posit that such a rash of misfortune dealt a serious blow to Waterman’s young psyche.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

The maneuver placed Psyche on the trajectory needed to reach its metal-rich target in the main asteroid belt.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026

These comparisons will help the team better understand the cameras' performance before Psyche begins studying its much less familiar asteroid target.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026

Following the successful gravity assist, the spacecraft is now traveling directly toward asteroid Psyche, which orbits in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026

At asteroid Psyche, the instrument will help scientists identify the chemical elements present in the object's surface material.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026

“Like Psyche, Cupid’s wife. You carried her to his palace.”

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

If you’re anything like me, you’re psyched for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, an adaptation of Homer’s epic poem.

From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026

"I picked up the hammer, stuck on Frankie goes to Hollywood's Two Tribes, got myself psyched up and went outside."

From BBC ● May 2, 2026

I psyched myself up to argue and dialed the customer service number on the back of the bill.

From Slate ● Apr. 25, 2026

To me, Jann is a guy that got a lot of people psyched to link arms and write about music at a time when nobody had a place to really do it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2025

No waitressing, nursing homes, or housecleaning this time; I’m psyched for a change—retail, maybe, or factory work.

From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich

Of course, there are limits to taking a Panglossian attitude and psyching ourselves up in the face of challenges.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025

“He’s not thinking. We came in together and you can be worried about your future a little bit, what’s going to happen. You start psyching yourself out. I think he’s just playing free.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2021

The "chess" of Antigua and Barbuda is a mind sport, psyching out one's opponent is as critical as choosing one's next move.

From BBC ● May 3, 2021

“Every day I get into my car, every day I decide to step out of my house, it’s a psyching up that I have to do to myself,” Ourlicht said.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2020

While she was psyching herself up to immobilize her ankle, she noticed some faded words on one of the wooden crates: hermes express.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan

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