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Synonyms

psyche

1 American  
[sahyk] / saɪk /

verb (used with object)

psyched, psyching

  1. a variant of psych.

Psyche 2 American  
[sahy-kee] / ˈsaɪ ki /

noun

  1. Classical Mythology. a personification of the soul, which in the form of a beautiful girl was loved by Eros.

  2. psyche,

    1. the human soul, spirit, or mind.

    2. Psychology, Psychoanalysis. the mental or psychological structure of a person, especially as a motive force.

  3. Philosophy. (inNeoplatonism ) the second emanation of the One, regarded as a universal consciousness and as the animating principle of the world.

  4. a female given name.

Psyche 1 British  
/ ˈsaɪkɪ /

noun

  1. Greek myth a beautiful girl loved by Eros (Cupid), who became the personification of the soul

"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
psyche 2 British  
/ ˈsaɪkɪ /

noun

  1. the human mind or soul

"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
Psyche 1 Cultural  

  1. In Roman mythology, a beautiful girl who was visited each night in the dark by Cupid, who told her she must not try to see him. When she did try, while he was asleep, she accidentally dropped oil from her lamp on him, and he awoke and fled. After she had performed many harsh tasks set by Cupid's mother, Venus, Jupiter made her immortal, and she and Cupid were married. Her name is Greek for both “soul” and “butterfly.”

psyche 2 Cultural  

  1. The mind, soul, or spirit, as opposed to the body. In psychology, the psyche is the center of thought, feeling, and motivation, consciously and unconsciously directing the body's reactions to its social and physical environment.

Etymology

Origin of Psyche

First recorded in 1650–60 Psyche for def. 2a; from Latin psȳchē, from Greek psȳchḗ literally, “breath,” derivative of psȳ́chein “to breathe, blow,” hence, “live” ( psycho- )

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 Scarlet Letter” has engraved Nathaniel Hawthorne’s name into our national psyche as a critic of tyrannical small-town morality.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Travellers game was something new: a homegrown product, one that seemed to reflect the American psyche.

From The Wall Street Journal

It was an experience that left an indelible stain on his psyche.

From Los Angeles Times

Stella’s mind is on another plane, and has been for 30 years, since that incident in Belfast that has taken on sacred importance in her psyche.

From The Wall Street Journal

The family continues to fascinate the American psyche several decades and generations later.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.