spiritual

[ spir-i-choo-uhl ]
See synonyms for: spiritualspiritually on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or consisting of spirit; incorporeal.

  2. of or relating to the spirit or soul, as distinguished from the physical nature: a spiritual approach to life.

  1. closely akin in interests, attitude, outlook, etc.: the professor's spiritual heir in linguistics.

  2. of or relating to spirits or to spiritualists; supernatural or spiritualistic.

  3. characterized by or suggesting predominance of the spirit; ethereal or delicately refined: She is more of a spiritual type than her rowdy brother.

  4. of or relating to the spirit as the seat of the moral or religious nature.

  5. of or relating to sacred things or matters; religious; devotional; sacred.

  6. of or belonging to the church; ecclesiastical: lords spiritual and temporal.

  7. of or relating to the mind or intellect.

noun
  1. a spiritual or religious song: authentic folk spirituals.

  2. spirituals, affairs of the church.

  1. a spiritual thing or matter.

Origin of spiritual

1
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Medieval Latin spīrituālis, from Latin spīritu(s) spirit) + -ālis -al1

Other words from spiritual

  • spir·it·u·al·ly, adverb
  • spir·it·u·al·ness, noun
  • an·ti·spir·it·u·al, adjective
  • an·ti·spir·it·u·al·ly, adverb
  • non·spir·it·u·al, adjective, noun
  • non·spir·it·u·al·ly, adverb
  • non·spir·it·u·al·ness, noun
  • pseu·do·spir·i·tu·al, adjective
  • pseu·do·spir·i·tu·al·ly, adverb
  • qua·si-spir·it·u·al, adjective
  • qua·si-spir·it·u·al·ly, adverb
  • su·per·spir·it·u·al, adjective
  • su·per·spir·it·u·al·ly, adverb
  • un·spir·i·tu·al, adjective
  • un·spir·i·tu·al·ly, adverb

Words that may be confused with spiritual

Words Nearby spiritual

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use spiritual in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for spiritual

spiritual

/ (ˈspɪrɪtjʊəl) /


adjective
  1. relating to the spirit or soul and not to physical nature or matter; intangible

  2. of, relating to, or characteristic of sacred things, the Church, religion, etc

  1. standing in a relationship based on communication between the souls or minds of the persons involved: a spiritual father

  2. having a mind or emotions of a high and delicately refined quality

noun
  1. (often plural) the sphere of religious, spiritual, or ecclesiastical matters, or such matters in themselves

  1. the spiritual the realm of spirits

Derived forms of spiritual

  • spiritually, adverb
  • spiritualness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012