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psychosomatic

adjective psy·cho·so·mat·ic \ ˌsī-kō-sə-ˈma-tik \
|Updated on: 28 May 2018
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 \ˌsī-kō-sə-ˈma-ti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

See psychosomatic defined for English-language learners

See psychosomatic defined for kids

Examples of psychosomatic in a Sentence

  1. The doctor told her that her stomach problems were psychosomatic.

Recent Examples of psychosomatic from the Web

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.

Origin and Etymology of psychosomatic

International Scientific Vocabulary

Other Psychology Terms

fetish, hypochondria, intelligence, mania, narcissism, neurosis, pathological, psychosis, schadenfreude, subliminal

PSYCHOSOMATIC Defined for English Language Learners

psychosomatic

adjective

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

Medical Dictionary

1

psychosomatic

adjective psy·cho·so·mat·ic \ ˌsī-kə-sə-ˈmat-ik, -kō-, -sō- \
1 : of, relating to, concerned with, or involving both mind and body
  • the psychosomatic nature of man
  • —Herbert Ratner
2 a : 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
—

psychosomatically

play \-i-k(ə-)lē\ adverb
2

psychosomatic

noun
: an individual exhibiting psychosomatic symptoms

Learn More about psychosomatic

  1. See words that rhyme with psychosomatic Spanish Central: Translation of psychosomatic Nglish: Translation of psychosomatic for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of psychosomatic for Arabic speakers

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