Psychological Definition & Meaning

American

British

Other Word Forms

Etymology

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Examples

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Synonyms psychological American [sahy-kuh-loj-i-kuhl] / ˌsaɪ kəˈlɒdʒ ɪ kəl / Sometimes psychologic

adjective

1. of or relating to psychology.

2. pertaining to the mind or to mental phenomena as the subject matter of psychology.

3. of, pertaining to, dealing with, or affecting the mind, especially as a function of awareness, feeling, or motivation.

   psychological play;

   psychological effect.

psychological British / ˌsaɪkəˈlɒdʒɪkəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to psychology

2. of or relating to the mind or mental activity

3. having no real or objective basis; arising in the mind

   his backaches are all psychological

4. affecting the mind

"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

Other Word Forms

• nonpsychologic adjective
• nonpsychological adjective
• prepsychological adjective
• pseudopsychological adjective
• psychologically adverb
• semipsychologic adjective
• semipsychological adjective
• unpsychological adjective

Etymology

Origin of psychological

First recorded in 1785–95; psycholog(y) + -ical

Compare meaning

How does psychological compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• physiological vs. psychological

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The 30-year rate dipped below an important psychological threshold and is expected to boost home sales going into the crucial spring season.

From The Wall Street Journal

“The law is designed to make the psychological construction of a unified, single, homogenous nation-race a nationwide policy, and not something that just people in border regions need to pay attention to,” Oidtmann said.

From The Wall Street Journal

In other words, not only are markets extremely volatile, they’re often driven by a combination of behavioral and psychological factors that make them even more difficult to predict in a crisis.

From Barron's

Care believes that England's problems are tactical as well as psychological however, saying he is "sick" of England's scrum-halves not running with the ball to test the fringe defence.

From BBC

"I think it's important that we educate teens, parents, and teachers about how algorithms and social media might exploit our psychological biases to sow division and elicit violence."

From BBC

Related Words

• cognitive
• emotional
• intellectual
• mental
• subjective

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.