psychosomatic

adjective

psy·cho·so·mat·ic | \ ˌsī-kō-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

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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.

Examples of psychosomatic in a Sentence

The doctor told her that her stomach problems were psychosomatic.

Recent Examples on the Web

His group helped dispel the notion that NCGS was purely psychosomatic. — Kelly Servick, Science | AAAS, "What’s really behind ‘gluten sensitivity’?," 23 May 2018 Federal prosecutors countered by stating that Beal had suffered a psychosomatic hallucination in 2004 and could not be trusted, even under electronic monitoring. — Cindy Carcamo, latimes.com, "Ex-boyfriend of woman killed in Aliso Viejo explosion to remain behind bars," 21 May 2018 Religion, cultural differences, and psychosomatic phenomena are all at play as Ortega’s defense argues that the killer was criminally insane. — Maureen O'connor, The Cut, "A Crucial Question at the Nanny Trial: Is She Faking Her Hallucinations?," 28 Mar. 2018 People suffering from psychosomatic disorders develop physical symptoms with emotional causes such as stress and anxiety. — Nora Gámez Torres, miamiherald, "UM doctor who examined American diplomats in Havana: Symptoms are not caused by stress," 8 Feb. 2018 In the 19th century, migraine was considered to be a psychosomatic illness, along with other afflictions suffered principally by women. — R. Allan Purdy, Scientific American, "Can Anything Stop My Migraine?," 1 May 2017 Clinical psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Ime coined the term imposter syndrome in 1978 when investigating these and other physical symptoms that stemmed from mental self-doubt as a psychosomatic pattern. — Anchorage Daily News, "Does your colleagues’ praise leave you feeling like a fraud? You may suffer from ‘imposter sydrome’," 23 Apr. 2018 Two women, a famous actress afflicted with a psychosomatic loss of speech (Liv Ullmann) and a garrulous nurse (Bibi Andersson)--share a remote seaside cottage where their identities overlap, blur and eventually merge. — Greg Burnett, cleveland.com, "7 classic Ingmar Bergman films to be screened at the Peter Lewis Theater," 4 Mar. 2018 Many also presented symptoms that lasted for months and were not psychosomatic, the doctors wrote. — Nora Gámez Torres, miamiherald, "Cuba shares plans for a single currency and more during a visit by U.S. lawmakers | Miami Herald," 21 Feb. 2018

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.

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The first known use of psychosomatic was circa 1834

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More Definitions for psychosomatic

psychosomatic

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of psychosomatic

: caused by mental or emotional problems rather than by physical illness

See the full definition for psychosomatic in the English Language Learners Dictionary

psychosomatic

adjective

psy·cho·so·mat·ic | \ ˌsī-kə-sə-ˈmat-ik, -kō-, -sō-

Medical Definition of psychosomatic

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : of, relating to, concerned with, or involving both mind and body the psychosomatic nature of man— Herbert Ratner

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

b : exhibiting psychosomatic symptoms a psychosomatic patient