spiritualism
Americannoun
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the belief or doctrine that the spirits of the dead, surviving after the mortal life, can and do communicate with the living, especially through a person (a medium) particularly susceptible to their influence.
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the practices or phenomena associated with this belief.
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the belief that all reality is spiritual.
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Metaphysics. any of various doctrines maintaining that the ultimate reality is spirit or mind.
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spiritual quality or tendency.
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insistence on the spiritual side of things, as in philosophy or religion.
noun
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the belief that the disembodied spirits of the dead, surviving in another world, can communicate with the living in this world, esp through mediums
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the doctrines and practices associated with this belief
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philosophy the belief that because reality is to some extent immaterial it is therefore spiritual
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any doctrine (in philosophy, religion, etc) that prefers the spiritual to the material
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the condition or quality of being spiritual
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of spiritualism
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.
Chapnick discovered Alcott’s other stories as part of his research into spiritualism and mesmerism.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 17, 2024
For me, as someone who grew up Ethiopian and Evangelical, all of this spiritualism was new ground I was breaking into, and I was scared of what it held for me.
From Salon • Oct. 27, 2023
I had grown up Catholic in Santa Cruz, a California hot spot for new age-y hippies; by the time I was in college I had already rejected both Catholicism and new age spiritualism.
From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2023
Raised Baptist, Pettijohn eventually balanced mindfulness work with church, and attends Unity Church, which is a Christian denomination that emphasizes spiritualism and universalism.
From Washington Post • Jul. 4, 2022
Articles in the paper covered feminism, suffrage, sex education, legalized prostitution, vegetarianism, women in the military, and spiritualism.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
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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.