psychosomatic

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adjective psy·cho·so·mat·ic \ -sə-ˈma-tik \

Definition of psychosomatic

1 :of, relating to, concerned with, or involving both mind and body

the psychosomatic nature of man
—Herbert Ratner

2 :of, relating to, involving, or concerned with bodily symptoms caused by mental or emotional disturbance

psychosomatic symptoms

psychosomatic medicine

—

psychosomatically

play \-ti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

See psychosomatic defined for English-language learners

See psychosomatic defined for kids

Examples of psychosomatic in a Sentence

The doctor told her that her stomach problems were psychosomatic.

Recent Examples of psychosomatic from the Web

Known for his ceaselessly inquisitive mind, during more than 30 years in military service Dr. Compton studied internal medicine, pathology, gastroenterology and psychosomatic medicine.

— john scheinman, Laurel Leader, "J. Richard 'Dick' Compton, military physician 'adopted' by Laurel," 15 Aug. 2017
Dr. Bullock is a psychiatrist, not a pain specialist, and only sees patients dealing with psychosomatic disease.

— larry magid, The Mercury News, "Virtual reality can help alleviate pain," 15 June 2017
There is also some pushback about whether gluten sensitivity is psychosomatic.

— christy brissette, chicagotribune.com, "Want a verdict on gluten-free diets? You won't find it in a study.," 5 June 2017
By then, Dr. Grayson had become skeptical of the efficacy of controls and maintained that inflation resulted, in part, from a psychosomatic reaction by shoppers to measurements of the temperature of the economy.

— sam roberts, New York Times, "C. Jackson Grayson, 93, Nixon’s Anti-Inflation Overseer, Dies," 9 May 2017
One physician said her symptoms were psychosomatic.

— erika hayasaki, WIRED, "How a Single Gene Could Become a Volume Knob for Pain," 18 Apr. 2017
Building Big also digs up characters like Washington Roebling, chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge, who was unable to attend the opening of his own project because he was housebound by psychosomatic illness after recuperating from the bends.

— dan sicko, WIRED, "Power Structural Engineering," 1 Nov. 2000

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'psychosomatic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Since the Greek word soma means "body", psychosomatic suggests the link between mind and body. Since one's mental state may have an important effect on one's physical state, research on new medicines always involves giving some patients in the experiment a placebo (fake medicine), and some who receive the sugar pills will seem to improve. You may hear someone say of someone else's symptoms, "Oh, it's probably just psychosomatic", implying that the physical pain or illness is imaginary--maybe just an attempt to get sympathy--and that the person could will it away if he or she wanted to. But this can be harsh and unfair, since, whatever the cause is, the pain is usually real.