psychedelic

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ψυχή (psukhḗ, “mind, soul”) + δでるたῆλος (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)

Adjective

psychedelic (comparative more psychedelic, superlative most psychedelic)

1. Of, containing, generating, or reminiscent of drug-induced hallucinations, distortions of perception, altered awareness, etc.

   Synonyms: lysergic, trippy

   • 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.

2. (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^[1], 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

• folkadelic
• psychedelic circus
• psychedelic crisis
• psychedelic folk
• psychedelic rock
• psychedelic soul

 

Translations

of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.

• Belarusian: псіхадэлі́чны (psixadelíčny)
• Catalan: psicodèlic
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 迷幻 (zh) (míhuàn)

• Czech: psychedelický
• Danish: psykedelisk
• Dutch: psychedelisch (nl)
• Esperanto: maldormosonĝa
• 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)
• Hungarian: tudattorzító, tudatmódosító (hu), bódító (hu), pszichedelikus (hu)
• Italian: psichedelico (it)
• Lithuanian: psichodelinis
• Macedonian: психоделичен m (psihodeličen)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: psykedelisk

  Nynorsk: psykedelisk

• Polish: psychodeliczny (pl)
• Portuguese: psicodélico (pt)
• Romanian: psihedelic (ro)
• Russian: психодели́чный (ru) (psixodelíčnyj), психодели́ческий (ru) (psixodelíčeskij)
• Slovak: psychedelický m
• Spanish: psicodélico
• Swedish: psykedelisk (sv)
• Turkish: psikedelik
• Ukrainian: психоделі́чний (psyxodelíčnyj)

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.
   • 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

• Czech: psychedelikum n
• Finnish: psykedeeli (fi)
• French: psychédélique (fr) m
• German: Psychedelikum n
• Polish: psychodelik (pl) m
• Russian: психоде́лик (ru) m (psixodélik)
• Ukrainian: психоде́лік m (psyxodélik)

Interjection

psychedelic

1. (hippie slang) Awesome, cool, groovy.

Related terms

• psychedelia