mysticism

American  

[mis-tuh-siz-uhm] / ˈmɪs təˌsɪz əm /

noun

mysticisms plural

1. the beliefs, ideas, or mode of thought of mystics.

2. a doctrine of an immediate spiritual intuition of truths believed to transcend ordinary understanding, or of a direct, intimate union of the soul with God through contemplation or ecstasy.

3. obscure thought or speculation.

---

mysticism British  

/ ˈmɪstɪˌsɪzəm /

noun

1. belief in or experience of a reality surpassing normal human understanding or experience, esp a reality perceived as essential to the nature of life

2. a system of contemplative prayer and spirituality aimed at achieving direct intuitive experience of the divine

3. obscure or confused belief or thought

---

mysticism Cultural  

1. In religion, the attempt by an individual to achieve a personal union with God or with some other divine being or principle. Mystics generally practice daily meditation.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• antimysticism
  noun
• nonmysticism
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• mysticisms
  plural

Etymology

Origin of mysticism

First recorded in 1730–40; mystic + -ism

Explanation

Mysticism is a religion or religious belief based on union or communion with a deity, or divine being. Mysticism is what lets you transcend the physical to experience enlightenment — let's just say you'll recognize it when it happens. Mystical, mysterious, and filled with wonder, mysticism is easily associated with crystals, New Age theories, or the occult (the supernatural). The truth is that many faiths, including Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity, have their own forms of mysticism, placing an emphasis on spiritual connection and union, and the mysteries of religion over dogma or rigid rules. Outside of religion, mysticism is applied to cryptic, obscure, or irrational thought — leaning toward mystery and wonder, rather than logic.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mysticism mysticisms

Hegel was a metaphysician whose insistence that Geist, or spirit, pervades the historical process and moves it to some grand culmination is difficult to distinguish from New Age mysticism, and hence charlatanism.

From Salon ● Mar. 28, 2026

But mysticism also holds sway behind the closed door of politics.

From Barron's ● Dec. 21, 2025

Among Freedom Advances’ 151 hopefuls are a former Playboy model, an ex-member of the leftist party that long ruled Argentina and an influencer famous for talking about politics and mysticism on social media.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2025

Jones, who has lost both parents in the last six years, says she’s also been reading books about Celtic mysticism, sorrow and connecting to nature.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2025

It was a foundling who finally tamed the zeros and infinities in calculus and rid mathematics of its mysticism.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

When the confirmation of a theory that is already received, and which is doubly attractive by its mysticisms, depends, in some measure, on the result, the experiment becomes still less likely to fail.

From Recollections of Europe by Cooper, James Fenimore

The Prophet also taught the unchanging relation of cause and effect, which brings the whole universe under a reign of law, and overthrows the mysticisms of old.

From Joseph Smith as Scientist A Contribution to Mormon Philosophy by Widtsoe, John Andreas

"Liszt's criticisms upon his separate works have all the eloquent mysticisms to be expected from him; and the biography is a book musicians will always prize."

From The Influence of the Organ in History Inaugural Lecture of the Department of the Organ in the College of Music of Boston University by Buck, Dudley

At all times and in all places, these two mysticisms have given each other the hand.

From Lectures on the true, the beautiful and the good by Cousin, Victor

He is not a poet dealing in mysticisms, but a rhetorical philosopher, propounding startling theories, partly true and partly false, which he logically enforces with matchless eloquence.

From Beacon Lights of History, Volume 13 Great Writers; Dr Lord's Uncompleted Plan, Supplemented with Essays by Emerson, Macaulay, Hedge, and Mercer Adam by Lord, John