metaphysical
pertaining to or of the nature of metaphysics.
Philosophy.
concerned with abstract thought or subjects, as existence, causality, or truth.
concerned with first principles and ultimate grounds, as being, time, or substance.
highly abstract, subtle, or abstruse.
designating or pertaining to the poetry of an early group of 17th-century English poets, notably John Donne, whose characteristic style is highly intellectual and philosophical and features intensive use of ingenious conceits and turns of wit.
Archaic. imaginary or fanciful.
Origin of metaphysical
1Other words from metaphysical
- met·a·phys·i·cal·ly, adverb
- an·ti·met·a·phys·i·cal, adjective
- an·ti·met·a·phys·i·cal·ly, adverb
- hy·per·met·a·phys·i·cal, adjective
- non·met·a·phys·i·cal, adjective
- non·met·a·phys·i·cal·ly, adverb
- qua·si-met·a·phys·i·cal, adjective
- qua·si-met·a·phys·i·cal·ly, adverb
- un·met·a·phys·i·cal, adjective
- un·met·a·phys·i·cal·ly, adverb
Words Nearby metaphysical
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use metaphysical in a sentence
During this time, normal activities are disrupted, so an indivdual’s thoughts become more attuned to the metaphysical.
Fasting May Have Become a Health Fad, But Religious Communities Have Been Doing It For Millennia | LGBTQ-Editor | July 30, 2021 | No Straight NewsThere is a profound and metaphysical difference between the two.
Want art you can’t look away from? These 5 visual illusions will entrance your mind | Corinne Iozzio | July 21, 2021 | Popular-ScienceMoreover, there may well be no independent “metaphysical” substance constituting our reality that underlies this web.
Is Reality a Game of Quantum Mirrors? A New Theory Suggests It Might Be | Peter Evans | June 30, 2021 | Singularity HubSpringsteen closed the show with a new song off Letter to You, “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” a metaphysical invitation that replaces the earlier closer, “Born to Run.”
The Reopening of Springsteen on Broadway Brought Broadway Out of Hibernation—and One Packed Theater Into a Brighter Future | Stephanie Zacharek | June 28, 2021 | TimeBechdel references these metaphysical moments, or “aerobic inebriation,” throughout her book.
Memoirist Alison Bechdel Is No Longer Trying to Outrun Death | Eliana Dockterman | May 3, 2021 | Time
He left the U.S., seeking a spiritual and metaphysical connection for his work elsewhere.
I do not say a creation … Any preexistence of the universe has a metaphysical character.
Evangelicals Still Don’t Know What to Do With the Big Bang | Karl W. Giberson | March 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThings get metaphysical in one of the most masterful hours of television since ‘Breaking Bad.’
‘True Detective’ Episode 5 Review: ‘The Secret Fate of All Life’ is the Best Episode Yet | Andrew Romano | February 17, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSo in episode five—not to spoil anything—Cohle gives one of his metaphysical addresses.
Inside the Obsessive, Strange Mind of True Detective’s Nic Pizzolatto | Andrew Romano | February 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTCaleb makes clear that those plaguing him are honest-to-god metaphysical beings and not traumatic figments.
Possessed by PTSD, A Veteran Uses Exorcisms to Cast Out His Demons | Brian Van Reet | February 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTmetaphysical terms, taken in their proper sense, have sometimes determined the opinion of twenty nations.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 1 (of 10) | Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)In his metaphysical conversations, Baudelaire spoke much of his ideas, little of his sentiments, and never of his actions.
Charles Baudelaire, His Life | Thophile Gautiermetaphysical subtlety, in pursuit of an impracticable theory, could alone have devised one that is calculated to destroy it.
Key-Notes of American Liberty | VariousDr. Whewell equally misunderstands M. Comte's doctrine respecting the second, or metaphysical stage of speculation.
A System of Logic: Ratiocinative and Inductive | John Stuart MillA metaphysical explanation can be of use only when there is a doctrine of life which it serves to make manifest.
My Religion | Leo Tolstoy
British Dictionary definitions for metaphysical (1 of 2)
/ (ˌmɛtəˈfɪzɪkəl) /
relating to or concerned with metaphysics
(of a statement or theory) having the form of an empirical hypothesis, but in fact immune from empirical testing and therefore (in the view of the logical positivists) literally meaningless
(popularly) abstract, abstruse, or unduly theoretical
incorporeal; supernatural
Derived forms of metaphysical
- metaphysically, adverb
British Dictionary definitions for Metaphysical (2 of 2)
/ (ˌmɛtəˈfɪzɪkəl) /
denoting or relating to certain 17th-century poets who combined intense feeling with ingenious thought and often used elaborate imagery and conceits. Notable among them were Donne, Herbert, and Marvell
a poet of this group
Collins 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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