psychedelic

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈsaɪ.kəˌdɛl.ɪk/, /ˈsaɪ.kɪˌdɛl.ɪk/

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

• enPR: sī'kĭ-děl'ĭk

Adjective

psychedelic (comparative more psychedelic, superlative most psychedelic)

1. Of, containing, generating, or reminiscent of drug-induced hallucinations, distortions of perception, altered awareness etc.
2. (of graphics, etc.) Having bright colours, abstract shapes, etc. reminiscent of drug-induced hallucinations or distortions of perception.

Synonyms

• (of hallucinations): lysergic, trippy
• (having bright colours): multi-coloured

Translations

of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.

• Catalan: psicodèlic
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 迷幻 (zh) (míhuàn)

• Czech: psychedelický
• Danish: psykedelisk
• Dutch: psychedelisch (nl)
• Finnish: psykedeelinen (fi)
• French: psychédélique (fr)
• Galician: psicodélico m
• Georgian: ფსიქოდელიური (psikodeliuri)
• German: psychedelisch (de), bewusstseinserweiternd
• Greek: ψυχοδηλωτικός (psychodilotikós), ψυχεδελικός (el) (psychedelikós)
• Hebrew: פְּסִיכֶדֶלִי m (psichedéli)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: tudattorzító, tudatmódosító, bódító (hu), pszichedelikus (hu)
• Italian: psichedelico (it)
• Lithuanian: psichodelinis
• Macedonian: психоделичен m (psihodeličen)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: psykedelisk

  Nynorsk: psykedelisk

• Portuguese: psicodélico (pt)
• Romanian: psihedelic (ro)
• Russian: психодели́чный (ru) (psixodelíčnyj)
• Spanish: psicodélico, sicodélico
• Swedish: psykedelisk (sv)

Noun

psychedelic (plural psychedelics)

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.

Translations

psychoactive substance

• Czech: psychedelikum n
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Interjection

psychedelic

1. (hippie slang) awesome, cool, groovy

Related terms

• psychedelia