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-)

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

"Psychedelic means 'psyche-revealing,' or making the psyche visible," said senior author Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD, the Ralph Metzner Distinguished Professor of Neurology at UCSF.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026

The fear has become so pervasive that it is reshaping the Cuban national psyche, opening migrants’ minds to possibilities beyond Florida, said Jorge Duany, former director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

For four seasons, we watched The Bear’s family of choice choose the second way, even as Carmy’s psyche remains mired in disorder.

From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026

That the ’70s American psyche, brutalized by Watergate and Vietnam, found solace in Castaneda’s sophistry isn’t surprising.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026

But he took momentary charge of his psyche, despite his losses, and began to feel optimistic.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Mars served as a practice target for the tools that will eventually investigate Psyche.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026

The instrument consists of two identical cameras designed to photograph asteroid Psyche in multiple wavelengths of light.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026

The spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at asteroid Psyche in August 2029.

From Science Daily ● May 26, 2026

Scientists believe Psyche could be the exposed partial core of an ancient planetesimal, one of the building blocks that formed planets early in the solar system's history.

From Science Daily ● May 26, 2026

There was once a king who had three daughters, all lovely maidens, but the youngest, Psyche, excelled her sisters so greatly that beside them she seemed a very goddess consorting with mere mortals.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

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

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

The SNL actor said his hosts were "psyched" he wore a kilt and he "had the best dinner ever".

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2025

Twenty-five years after their first album, both brothers are comfortable — psyched, even — to find their band in such an unlikely mix.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2025

So when I hear my name on the PA system being called to the principal’s office, I’m psyched.

From "Linked" by Gordon Korman

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

"I knew how toxic it can be. You're psyching yourself up for it, so to hear that you aren't going to need it is just unbelievable," she says.

From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2023

Clever on and off the court, Medvedev enjoys psyching out his opponents not only with his combination of impenetrable defense and sneaky offense but with his needling comments.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2022

“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

He tries not psyching himself into thinking Delilah is calling and his heart races when he reads her name.

From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera

Related Words

• ego
• mind
• soul
• spirit
• subconscious