spiritualism
Americannoun
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the belief or doctrine that the spirits of the dead, surviving after the mortal life, can and do communicate with the living, especially through a person (a medium) particularly susceptible to their influence.
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the practices or phenomena associated with this belief.
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the belief that all reality is spiritual.
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Metaphysics. any of various doctrines maintaining that the ultimate reality is spirit or mind.
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spiritual quality or tendency.
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insistence on the spiritual side of things, as in philosophy or religion.
noun
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the belief that the disembodied spirits of the dead, surviving in another world, can communicate with the living in this world, esp through mediums
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the doctrines and practices associated with this belief
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philosophy the belief that because reality is to some extent immaterial it is therefore spiritual
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any doctrine (in philosophy, religion, etc) that prefers the spiritual to the material
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the condition or quality of being spiritual
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of spiritualism
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.
What she shows us is a woman whose spiritualism, stage presence and charisma propelled her into a place of celebrity and fame that became a trap.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2025
This book by an Australian art critic turns a penetrating gaze on female artists who, in the 19th century and into the 20th, embraced spiritualism for sometimes uncertain reasons.
From New York Times ● Jan. 11, 2024
For me, as someone who grew up Ethiopian and Evangelical, all of this spiritualism was new ground I was breaking into, and I was scared of what it held for me.
From Salon ● Oct. 27, 2023
We are more alike in our spiritualism than different.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 21, 2023
The three Mora sisters were students of spiritualism and supernatural phenomena.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
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.
