subliminal

American  

[suhb-lim-uh-nl] / sʌbˈlɪm ə nl /

adjective

Psychology.

1. existing or operating below the threshold of consciousness; being or employing stimuli insufficiently intense to produce a discrete sensation but often being or designed to be intense enough to influence the mental processes or the behavior of the individual.

   a subliminal stimulus;

   subliminal advertising.

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subliminal British  

/ sʌbˈlɪmɪnəl /

adjective

1. resulting from processes of which the individual is not aware

2. (of stimuli) less than the minimum intensity or duration required to elicit a response

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Usage

What is a subliminal message? A subliminal message is a technique used in marKEting and other media to influencE People without theiR bEing Aware of what the messenger is DoING. This may involve the use of split second flashes of text, hidden images, or subtle cues that affect the audience at a level below conscious awareness.

Other Word Forms

• nonsubliminal
  adjective
• nonsubliminally
  adverb
• subliminally
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of subliminal

First recorded in 1885–90; sub- + Latin līmin-, stem of līmen “threshold” + -al ¹

Explanation

Each of your five senses constantly sends new information to your brain. And there’s another way your brain receives information: through subliminal messages. The unconscious mind picks up on things you don’t even realize. Faint humming might make you irritated. Red lights can raise your blood temperature. Usually, subliminal methods are used to control people, like flashing words quickly during a television program. If you’re worried, there’s not much you can do, because subliminal literally means “below the threshold” or surface of your conscious mind, and you probably will never even notice that you’re being controlled. Try reading only the capital letters of this definition for an example of a subliminal message.

Example Sentences

If he was around today, Mr. Subliminal would say something like this to Arte Moreno:

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 25, 2020

Mills was a versatile designer, turning out skateboards for Subliminal, scarves for Marc Jacobs, and graphics for Kim Gordon’s clothing company.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 1, 2017

It was the first of its kind in Israel and influenced many Israeli hip-hop artists like Hadag Nahash, Subliminal, and Shabak Samech.”

From Slate • Dec. 11, 2015

Mr. Dingman, a vibraphonist, will present his “The Subliminal and the Sublime”; New Morse Code will perform Christopher Stark’s “The Language of Landscapes.”

From New York Times • May 14, 2015

Myers' conception of the extensiveness of the Subliminal Self quite overturns the classic notion of what the human mind consists in.

From Memories and Studies by James, Henry

Related Words

• innate
• instinctive
• latent
• lost
• repressed
• suppressed