Link Centre Dictionary

psychedelic

psyc·he·de·lic

UK/ˈsaɪ.kəˌdɛl.ɪk/ US/ˈsaɪ.kɪˌdɛl.ɪk/ uncommon

adjective

1.

producing distorted sensory perceptions and feelings or altered states of awareness or sometimes states resembling psychosis

  • “psychedelic drugs like psilocybin and mescaline”
Similar
2.

having the vivid colors and bizarre patterns associated with psychedelic states

  • “a psychedelic painting”
Similar
3.

of a mental state characterized by intense and distorted perceptions and hallucinations and feelings of euphoria or sometimes despair

  • “a psychedelic experience”
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Origin

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.

Phrases

  • psychedelic circus
  • psychedelic crisis
  • psychedelic folk
  • psychedelic frogfish
  • psychedelic mushroom
  • psychedelic rock
  • psychedelic soul

Related words

Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.