extrasensory perception

noun

1. ESP.

extrasensory perception

noun

1. the supposed ability of certain individuals to obtain information about the environment without the use of normal sensory channels Also calledcryptaesthesia ESP See also clairvoyance telepathy

extrasensory perception

1. Knowledge or perception without the use of any of the five senses. ESP includes clairvoyance (knowledge about some distant object or event, such as an unreported accident), telepathy (reading another's thoughts or sending one's own to another), and precognition (predicting the future). Although many people claim to have extrasensory powers, these powers have yet to be verified by scientific procedures. ( See also parapsychology and psychic research .)

Word History and Origins

Origin of extrasensory perception¹

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

She initially didn’t mention a murder, then claimed Jeschke was killed by a man who police later determined was in Topeka at the time, and then later said she knew about the murder because of “extrasensory perception,” according to her attorneys.

From Seattle Times

When Bobby became unbearably lonely for companionship, he would often head up north to Palo Alto and stay with his sister and her husband, Russell Targ, a Stanford Research Institute scientist who was an authority on extrasensory perception.

From Literature

Pinker points out that 55 percent of Americans believe in psychic healing, and 41 percent believe in extrasensory perception, according to a 2005 Gallup survey.

From Salon

Catholic enough to have considered the priesthood, he also loved philosophy and divination and believed in extrasensory perception.

From Washington Post

Some of the warning signs were obvious, like published claims of extrasensory perception and dramatic instances of scientific fraud.

From Scientific American