transcendent

American  

[tran-sen-duhnt] / trænˈsɛn dənt /

adjective

1. going beyond ordinary limits; surpassing; exceeding.

2. superior or supreme.

3. Theology. (of the Deity) transcending the universe, time, etc.

4. Philosophy.

   1. Scholasticism. above all possible modes of the infinite.

   2. Kantianism. transcending experience; not realizable in human experience.

   3. (in modern realism) referred to, but beyond, direct apprehension; outside consciousness.

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noun

Mathematics.

1. a transcendental function.

transcendent British  

/ trænˈsɛndənt /

adjective

1. exceeding or surpassing in degree or excellence

2. 1. (in the philosophy of Kant) beyond or before experience; a priori

   2. (of a concept) falling outside a given set of categories

   3. beyond consciousness or direct apprehension

3. theol (of God) having continuous existence outside the created world

4. free from the limitations inherent in matter

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noun

1. philosophy a transcendent thing

Other Word Forms

• supertranscendent adjective
• supertranscendently adverb
• supertranscendentness noun
• transcendence noun
• transcendently adverb
• transcendentness noun
• untranscendent adjective

Etymology

Origin of transcendent

1575–85; < Latin trānscendent- (stem of trānscendēns ), present participle of trānscendere. See transcend, -ent

Example Sentences

But Mr. Styles’s voice, while expressive in certain contexts, is incapable of conveying hedonism, and “Aperture” ends up feeling blandly uplifting rather than transcendent.

From The Wall Street Journal

Then, just after the calamity of World War II, in a remote corner of eastern France, he moved Modernism’s goal posts with a single, eccentric, transcendent project.

From The Wall Street Journal

Joseph navigated those years in the wake with unadorned reverence, while starting a family of his own and directing some of the most transcendent music videos of the 2010s.

From Los Angeles Times

But the presentation and even the digressions make it all a story with layers, and atmosphere, and maybe even transcendent meaning about perception and justice.

From The Wall Street Journal

“The power of what we do as filmmakers ... is really to remind people that we are not alone, that our experiences are transcendent,” Pine recently told an audience at the Sundance Film Festival.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• abstract
• fantastic
• otherworldly
• sublime
• supernatural
• ultimate