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View synonyms for

psychedelic

[ sahy-ki-del-ik ]

adjective

  1. of or noting a mental state characterized by a profound sense of intensified sensory perception, sometimes accompanied by severe perceptual distortion and hallucinations and by extreme feelings of either euphoria or despair:

    LSD users seek the psychedelic properties of the drug, including heightened sensory experiences.

  2. of, relating to, or noting any of various drugs producing this state, such as LSD, mescaline, or psilocybin:

    Researchers have long been interested in the potential therapeutic effects of psychedelic drugs for humans.

  3. characterized by images, sounds, or feelings resembling those experienced while in the altered state produced by psychedelic drugs: The psychedelic designs of music posters in the 60s were inspired by the Art Nouveau movement of the late 1800s.

    Their music had a dreamy psychedelic sound, with gentle guitars and hushed vocals.

    The psychedelic designs of music posters in the 60s were inspired by the Art Nouveau movement of the late 1800s.



noun

  1. a psychedelic drug:

    The clinic will start treating patients with ketamine, a psychedelic.

  2. Rare. a person who uses such a substance.

psychedelic

/ ˌɪɪˈɛɪ /

adjective

  1. relating to or denoting new or altered perceptions or sensory experiences, as through the use of hallucinogenic drugs
  2. denoting any of the drugs, esp LSD, that produce these effects
  3. informal.
    (of painting, fabric design, etc) having the vivid colours and complex patterns popularly associated with the visual effects of psychedelic states
“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

psychedelic

  1. A descriptive term for things that produce or are related to hallucinations , especially drugs such as LSD .
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Notes

Psychedelic art, most popular during the late 1960s and early 1970s, combines patterns, objects, light, and sound to simulate hallucinatory experiences.
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Derived Forms

  • ˌ⳦ˈ, adverb
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Other Word Forms

  • ····· adverb
  • ·⳦··· adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of psychedelic1

First recorded in 1956; from psyche + Greek ê(Dz) “visible, manifest, evident” + -ic
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Word History and Origins

Origin of psychedelic1

C20: from psyche + Greek delos visible
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Stacie and her partner were in a rough spot in their relationship when they first decided to take psilocybin together, the psychedelic drug in so-called "magic mushrooms."

From

Okay, could you tell me about the particular psychedelic mushroom you mentioned, P. stametsii?

From

"For me, the foundation of the psychedelic experience is a gestalt experience, so you leave seeing things a different way than you went in."

From

The trip's architect was Dr. Humphry Osmond, the psychiatrist who had first guided Aldous Huxley — the author of “Brave New World” and “The Doors of Perception” — in experiments with mescaline. and coined the term “psychedelic.”

From

Across three series of the BAFTA-winning Tribe, viewers have seen Parry taking the psychedelic drug ayahuasca, having his nose pierced with a thorn and taking part in numerous rituals.

From

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psychedeliapsychedelic music