holistic

ho·lis·tic

adj \hō-ˈlis-tik\

Definition of HOLISTIC

1

: of or relating to holism

2

: relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts <holistic medicine attempts to treat both the mind and the body> <holistic ecology views humans and the environment as a single system>

— ho·lis·ti·cal·ly \-ti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

Examples of HOLISTIC

1. Holistic medicine attempts to treat both the mind and the body.
2. We need to take a more holistic approach to improving our schools.
3. In a world of specialization, we have been trained to think of medicine as a separate world—when we are sick, we go to doctors and follow their advice. This is starting to change, with the increasing popularity of alternative and holistic approaches to overall health and well-being. —Gareth Cook, Boston Globe, 9 June 2002
4. The Gaia hypothesis is certainly top-down and holistic, and it's now generally accepted … Organisms have not just adapted to different physical environments; they also modify and improve the environment for their own good—just like people. —Tom Ghaffin, Natural History, October 1998
5. People with supermarket carts. When did these things come out of the stores and into the streets. She saw these things everywhere … filled with living trivia, the holistic dregs of everything if that is correctly put. —Don DeLillo, Mao II, 1991

Origin of HOLISTIC

(see holism)

First Known Use: 1926

Other Medicine Terms

analgesia, angina, diabetes, hepatitis, homeopathy, logorrhea, palliate, pandemic

Rhymes with HOLISTIC

artistic, autistic, ballistic, Buddhistic, cladistic, cubistic, deistic, ekistic, eristic, faunistic, floristic, heuristic, hubristic, juristic, linguistic, logistic, meristic, monistic, patristic, phlogistic, puristic, simplistic, sophistic, statistic, stylistic, Taoistic, theistic, Thomistic, touristic, tropistic, truistic, veristic, Yahwistic