spiritualism

American  

[spir-i-choo-uh-liz-uhm] / ˈspɪr ɪ tʃu əˌlɪz əm /

noun

1. 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.

2. the practices or phenomena associated with this belief.

3. the belief that all reality is spiritual.

4. Metaphysics. any of various doctrines maintaining that the ultimate reality is spirit or mind.

5. spiritual quality or tendency.

6. insistence on the spiritual side of things, as in philosophy or religion.

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spiritualism British  

/ ˈspɪrɪtjʊəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. the belief that the disembodied spirits of the dead, surviving in another world, can communicate with the living in this world, esp through mediums

2. the doctrines and practices associated with this belief

3. philosophy the belief that because reality is to some extent immaterial it is therefore spiritual

4. any doctrine (in philosophy, religion, etc) that prefers the spiritual to the material

5. the condition or quality of being spiritual

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Other Word Forms

• antispiritualism noun
• antispiritualistic adjective
• spiritualist noun
• spiritualistic adjective
• spiritualistically adverb

Etymology

Origin of spiritualism

First recorded in 1825–35; spiritual + -ism

Example Sentences

Late in life, Maggie Fox denounced the spiritualism movement that she and her sister Kate had helped start, demonstrating the ways in which they had fooled their audiences.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 18, 2025

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

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

We are more alike in our spiritualism than different.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 21, 2023

But that didn’t mean to everyone that all spiritualism was false.

From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman