English Explanatory Dictionary

psychedelic

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Of, containing, generating, or reminiscent of drug-induced hallucinations, distortions of perception, altered awareness, etc.
  2. Having bright colours, abstract shapes, etc. reminiscent of drug-induced hallucinations or distortions of perception.
  3. Awesome, cool, groovy.
noun
  1. Any psychoactive substance (such as LSD or psilocybin) which, when consumed, causes perceptual changes (sometimes erratic and uncontrollable), visual hallucination, and altered awareness of the body and mind.

Pronunciation

/ˈsaɪ.kəˌdɛl.ɪk/ /ˈsaɪ.kɪˌdɛl.ɪk/ sī'kĭ-děl'ĭk en-au-psychedelic.ogg

Word forms

psychedelic more psychedelic most psychedelic psychedelics

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ψυχή (psukhḗ, “mind, soul”) + δῆλος (dêlos, “manifest, visible”) + English -ic (prefix forming adjectives with the sense ‘of or pertaining to’), coined by the English psychiatrist Humphry Osmond (1917–2004) in a 1956 letter to Aldous Huxley.

Synonyms

lysergic trippy multi-coloured

Related words

psychedelia

Derived words

antipsychedelic cyberdelic folkadelic hypnodelic neopsychedelic nonpsychedelic postpsychedelic prepsychedelic psychedelically psychedelic circus psychedelic crisis psychedelic folk psychedelic frogfish psychedelicize psychedelic mushroom psychedelic rock psychedelic soul unpsychedelic
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on P Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary