psychosomatic
adjective
Herbert Ratner
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
Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 1 Oct. 2025
And fibromyalgia has long been misunderstood, poorly diagnosed – often dismissed as psychosomatic – and under-treated.
—New Atlas, 17 Aug. 2025
But Wolff’s work and influence, alongside a simultaneous rise in the fields of psychology and psychosomatic medicine, helped to disperse those nostrums into the wider culture—and into the prevailing paradigm within which other headache scientists and clinicians toiled.
—Tom Zeller Jr.
july 30, Literary Hub, 30 July 2025
African American women also report more psychosomatic symptoms, such as mood and sleep disturbances.
—Sophie Okolo, Forbes.com, 14 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for psychosomatic
Cite this Entry
“Psychosomatic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/psychosomatic. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
psychosomatic
adjective
Medical Definition
psychosomatic
1 of 2 adjective
Herbert Ratnerpsychosomatic
2 of 2 noun
Share