superstition
a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like.
a system or collection of such beliefs.
a custom or act based on such a belief.
irrational fear of what is unknown or mysterious, especially in connection with religion.
any blindly accepted belief or notion.
Origin of superstition
1Words Nearby superstition
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use superstition in a sentence
Writers were happy to note the superstition, either to goose it along or knock it down.
The wings of war: Some people believed cicadas carried a dire warning | John Kelly | May 31, 2021 | Washington PostI believe that in America it’s very similar, except we’re not wobbling between science and superstition, but between science and suspicion, fueled by social media.
How to Conquer COVID-19 Amid a Confederacy of Dunces - Issue 99: Universality | Eric Topol & Abraham Verghese | April 7, 2021 | NautilusThe problem is that our government sometimes wobbles between science and superstition.
How to Conquer COVID-19 Amid a Confederacy of Dunces - Issue 99: Universality | Eric Topol & Abraham Verghese | April 7, 2021 | NautilusThough I don’t follow many superstitions, I definitely won’t cut my hair.
It helps that baseball has always been a sport of strange superstitions, with no clock and long odds — where you never know if you’ll connect with the incoming fastball, but you swing anyway.
Darwin was among the many scientists that have helped society evolve out of mysticism, superstition and faith.
‘Gods of Suburbia’: Dina Goldstein’s Arresting Photo Series on Religion vs. Consumerism | Dina Goldstein | November 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTYet superstition can also be, if my theology is correct, the first step in the other direction on that same road.
Tally one for the superstition list… no more laundry at night.
Dodging Rockets in Afghanistan as the Taliban’s Fighting Season Begins | Nick Willard | May 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThere is his superstition about watching every Red Sox game but never the sixth inning.
Joshua Ferris’s New Novel Chronicles an Existential Dentist in Despair | Tom LeClair | May 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTsuperstition has it that playing the Man of Steel is a career killer.
Is There Really a Superman Curse, and Can Henry Cavill Break It? | Kevin Fallon | June 13, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTIt is beyond the comprehension of any man not blinded by superstition, not warped by prejudice and old-time convention.
God and my Neighbour | Robert BlatchfordI see no infinite goodness here, but only the infinite foolishness of sentimental superstition.
God and my Neighbour | Robert BlatchfordBuchanan the historian was, from his learning, thought in his days of superstition to be a wizard.
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun; | VariousI believe that from the beginning of time the misery of the world has been caused by the superstition that love was all.
Ancestors | Gertrude AthertonOrganised and authoritative religion the world over makes for ignorance, for poverty and superstition.
God and my Neighbour | Robert Blatchford
British Dictionary definitions for superstition
/ (ˌsuːpəˈstɪʃən) /
irrational belief usually founded on ignorance or fear and characterized by obsessive reverence for omens, charms, etc
a notion, act or ritual that derives from such belief
any irrational belief, esp with regard to the unknown
Origin of superstition
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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