Quantcast
Merriam-Webster Logo
  • Dictionary
  • Thesaurus
  • Medical
  • Scrabble
  • Spanish Central
  • Learner's Dictionary

paranormal

play
adjective para·nor·mal \ˌpa-rə-ˈnȯr-məl, ˈpa-rə-ˌ\

Simple Definition of paranormal

  • : very strange and not able to be explained by what scientists know about nature and the world

Full Definition of paranormal

  1. :  not scientifically explainable :  supernatural

paranormal noun
paranormality play \ˌpa-rə-ˌnȯr-ˈma-lə-tē\ noun
paranormally play \-ˈnȯr-mə-lē\ adverb

Examples of paranormal in a sentence

  1. <there are rumors that the old deserted mansion is the site of paranormal activity>



Circa 1920

First Known Use of paranormal

circa 1920


Medical Dictionary

paranormal

play
adjective para·nor·mal \ˌpar-ə-ˈnȯr-məl\

Medical Definition of paranormal

  1. :  not understandable in terms of known scientific laws and phenomena <experiments in paranormal cognition of drawings—Psychological Abstracts>

para·nor·mal·ly \-ē\play adverb




Learn More about paranormal


Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up paranormal? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

WORD OF THE DAY

a common dialect or language

Get Word of the Day daily email!

WORD GAMES

Take a 3-minute break and test your skills!

woman-showing-a-variety-of-emotions

If a member of the audience describes your speech as bombastic, does that person mean it is:

rousing and inspiring pompous and overblown
How Strong Is Your Vocabulary?

Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!

TAKE THE QUIZ
Word Winder's CrossWinder

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ