paranormal
Americanadjective
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of paranormal
Explanation
Use the adjective paranormal to talk about things that are outside of normal experience, like ESP, ghosts, and UFOs. You might describe your friend's uncanny ability to bend spoons with her mind as paranormal, or beyond a scientific explanation. While many people don't believe in any kind of paranormal events, there are those who see or hear things they can't explain rationally. The Greek word para, "against, or contrary to," is paired up with normal: if it goes against what's normal, you can probably describe it as paranormal.
Vocabulary lists containing paranormal
Friday the 13th
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Trowbridge Road
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Paola Santiago and the River of Tears
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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.
Burwell is slated to compose for Barker’s follow-up, “Anything but Ghosts,” about a pair of cynical paranormal investigators who encounter the real thing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
And if any fictional town could make twice-a-year-Halloween seem reasonable, it was Gravity Falls, which teemed with paranormal mystery and intrigue.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
The Tonopah Historic Mining Park is a big tourist attraction, along with the Clown Motel and other lodging establishments supposedly haunted by the ghosts of dead miners and other paranormal phenomena.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026
They swapped rooms but the stay was - sadly - uneventful in paranormal terms.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2025
Once, the city had a number of spiritualists, real and pretend, but the capital had lost its penchant for séances and the paranormal.
From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland
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.
