psychedelic
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English
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ψυχή (psukhḗ, “mind, soul”) + δῆλος (dêlos, “manifest, visible”) + -ic. Coined by English psychiatrist Humphry Osmond in 1956 in a letter to Aldous Huxley.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈsaɪ.kəˌdɛl.ɪk/, /ˈsaɪ.kɪˌdɛl.ɪk/
- (US) enPR: sī'kĭ-děl'ĭk
Audio (General Australian): (file) - Rhymes: -ɛlɪk
Adjective
psychedelic (comparative more psychedelic, superlative most psychedelic)
- Of, containing, generating, or reminiscent of drug-induced hallucinations, distortions of perception, altered awareness, etc.
- 1967, Joe David Brown, editor, The Hippies, New York: Time, Inc, page 2:
- With those drugs has come the psychedelic philosophy, an impassioned belief in the self-revealing, mind-expanding powers of potent weeds and seeds and chemical compounds known to man since prehistory but wholly alien to the rationale of Western society.
- (of graphics, etc.) Having bright colours, abstract shapes, etc. reminiscent of drug-induced hallucinations or distortions of perception.
- Synonym: multi-coloured
- 2022 September 24, HarryBlank, “Transition”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 23 May 2024:
- There was a woman sitting on the edge of his bed. She had coral-orange hair, beryl-blue eyes, arched brows, freckles, a coy smile, a psychedelic labcoat and she was, he suddenly realized, his best friend of over twenty years.
Derived terms
Translations
of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
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Noun
psychedelic (plural psychedelics)
- 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.
- 2006, Dean McCormick, Dead End Street, page 62:
- I was going to become a three-drug connection to all my friends, psychedelics, hash and pot.
Translations
psychoactive substance
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Interjection
psychedelic