metaphysical Definition
meta·physi·cal (met′ə fiz′i kəl)
adjective
- of, connected with, or having the nature of, metaphysics
- very abstract, abstruse, or subtle: often a derogatory usage
- beyond the physical or material; incorporeal, supernatural, or transcendental
- designating or of the school of early 17th-cent. English poets, including esp. John Donne, George Herbert, Richard Crashaw, and Abraham Cowley, whose verse is characterized by very subtle, highly intellectualized imagery, sometimes deliberately fantastic and far-fetched
Etymology: ML metaphysicalis
metaphysical Related Forms
met′a·phys′i·cally adverb
metaphysical Synonyms
metaphysical Usage Examples
Modifies a noun
- presupposition: Competing schools of thought possess differing procedures, theories, even metaphysical presuppositions.
- speculation: He may not believe even in God, may not ask what his soul is, nor think of any metaphysical speculation.
- subtlety: There is much more metaphysical subtlety in the word " damn " than in the word " degeneration.
- assumption: Whatever metaphysical assumption has been made seems to be tested by the functioning of the combined law.
- poet: Ralph Vaughan Williams composed his Five Mystical Songs in 1911 to texts by the metaphysical poet George Herbert.
Modifying Another Word
- purely: In the language of philosophy, this is known as a purely metaphysical outlook which operates with immutable, non-historical, dogmatic concepts.
- almost: On one side, pure science leads us away from nature toward a notional, almost metaphysical realm of particles.
- not: The seven souls of man were not metaphysical " concepts " at any time in the past.
- too: I obviously don't understand the sophistication. ' Secretary Cohen: ' The distinction should not be one that's too metaphysical to describe.
- very: Thus, Parry is ' saying the Spencer thing but in very metaphysical terms ' .
- also: Being both absolute and changeable, remote and immediate, physical but also metaphysical, the sky engages dynamically with the poet's solitude.
Browse dictionary entries near metaphysical
- ‹ metaphysic
- ‹ metaphrast
- ‹ metaphrase
- ‹ metaphosphoric acid
- ‹ metaphosphate
- ‹ metaphoric or metaphorical
- ‹ metaphor
- ‹ metaphase
- ‹ metaph
- ‹ metanephros
- metaphysician ›
- metaphysics ›
- metaplasia ›
- metaplasm ›
- metaprotein ›
- metapsychology ›
- metasequoia ›
- metasomatism ›
- metastable ›
- metastasis ›

