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
Derived 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.
Apples in their entirety were known to symbolize romance and, later, spiritualism and courtship, namely during the 19th century.
From Salon • Oct. 21, 2025
“Great Gold Bird” can be heavy, tugging at our hearts even as it becomes more mystical — its themes ricocheting among grief, science fiction and spiritualism.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 6, 2024
This book by an Australian art critic turns a penetrating gaze on female artists who, in the 19th century and into the 20th, embraced spiritualism for sometimes uncertain reasons.
From New York Times • Jan. 11, 2024
Their mission: Finding myriad ways to convey how faith and spiritualism, in their many forms, manifested themselves around the world in 2023.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 18, 2023
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
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.
