Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

spiritualism

[spir-i-choo-uh-liz-uh m]
See more synonyms for spiritualism on Thesaurus.com
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.
Show More

Origin of spiritualism

First recorded in 1825–35; spiritual + -ism
Related formsspir·it·u·al·is·tic, adjectivespir·it·u·al·is·ti·cal·ly, adverban·ti·spir·it·u·al·ism, nounan·ti·spir·it·u·al·is·tic, adjective
Can be confusedspirited spiritual spiritualistic
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for spiritualistic

Historical Examples

  • He had never attended a spiritualistic séance and had no intention of doing so.

    Possessed

    Cleveland Moffett

  • It appeals to me as no spiritualistic performance has ever done.

    The Shadow World

    Hamlin Garland

  • Well, spiritualistic, mediumistic, and supernatural phenomena in general.

  • The opposition to spiritualistic teachings has its good and healthy side.

    Seen and Unseen

    E. Katharine Bates

  • I had found most "spiritualistic" teaching to be purely Theistic.

    Mystic London:

    Charles Maurice Davies

British Dictionary definitions for spiritualistic

spiritualism

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
Show More
Derived Formsspiritualist, nounspiritualistic, adjective
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

Word Origin and History for spiritualistic

spiritualism

n.

1796, "advocacy of a spiritual view," from spiritual + -ism. Table-rapping sense is from 1853.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper