as in spiritual
not composed of matter
ghosts are supposed to be incorporeal
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Recent Examples of incorporeal
Followers of the Abrahamic religions are supposed to treat God as immaterial and incorporeal, yet these early Yahweh worshippers imagined him as fully embodied.
—
Manvir Singh, New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2026
Positioned as a large-scale genre event, the series updates the legendary SFX property with a contemporary political and social edge, with Shun Oguri leading the cast as a detective hunting a seemingly incorporeal killer.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 27 Jan. 2026
In fact, magical life has the potential to be even more radically incorporeal than our own.
—Literary Hub, 26 June 2025
Indeed, in stark contrast to the incorporeal nature of a digital image, each of Winant’s photographs is, in a sense, a discrete body: a fallible material entity that boasts a hidden physical history and that will compositionally deteriorate over time.
—Jessica Simmons-Reid, Artforum, 1 June 2025
Christ Jesus’ example shows us how to turn away from material definitions of life by getting to know God as incorporeal divine Life.
—Larissa Snorek, Christian Science Monitor, 17 Mar. 2025
To the casual observer, the data industry can seem incorporeal, its products conjured out of weightless bits.
—IEEE Spectrum, 30 Oct. 2024
If reason teaches that God is incorporeal, this means that God has no body; God does not physically see, nor do people see God.
—Randy L. Friedman, The Conversation, 16 Feb. 2024
The digital files are incorporeal.
—BostonGlobe.com, 9 June 2021
Manvir Singh, New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2026
Positioned as a large-scale genre event, the series updates the legendary SFX property with a contemporary political and social edge, with Shun Oguri leading the cast as a detective hunting a seemingly incorporeal killer.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 27 Jan. 2026
In fact, magical life has the potential to be even more radically incorporeal than our own.
—Literary Hub, 26 June 2025
Indeed, in stark contrast to the incorporeal nature of a digital image, each of Winant’s photographs is, in a sense, a discrete body: a fallible material entity that boasts a hidden physical history and that will compositionally deteriorate over time.
—Jessica Simmons-Reid, Artforum, 1 June 2025
Christ Jesus’ example shows us how to turn away from material definitions of life by getting to know God as incorporeal divine Life.
—Larissa Snorek, Christian Science Monitor, 17 Mar. 2025
To the casual observer, the data industry can seem incorporeal, its products conjured out of weightless bits.
—IEEE Spectrum, 30 Oct. 2024
If reason teaches that God is incorporeal, this means that God has no body; God does not physically see, nor do people see God.
—Randy L. Friedman, The Conversation, 16 Feb. 2024
The digital files are incorporeal.
—BostonGlobe.com, 9 June 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for incorporeal
Adjective
-
This activity included combating Falun Gong, a spiritual practice banned in China, and supporters of Taiwanese independence.—
Times staff,
Los Angeles Times,
12 May 2026
-
Getting married in New York City’s Riverside Church was a deeply spiritual and foundational event for both of us.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 May 2026
Adjective
-
Mercifully, those connections are not forged across time and space; all three stories remain discrete, never approaching a moment of grandiose metaphysical convergence.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
8 May 2026
-
Conversations might turn to metaphysical issues or charitable activities.—
Georgia Nicols,
Denver Post,
2 May 2026
Adjective
-
Also in 2019, the Eternally Yours script helped Port and Wiseman land the job of adapting the UK series Ghosts, another single-camera supernatural comedy for CBS.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
1 May 2026
-
The romancer, which bowed in SXSW, follows Julia (Hawke), a frustrated video game designer, and Charlie (Pullman), a struggling musician, having supernatural impacts on the world after attending a couples therapy seminar to repair their volatile relationship.—
Etan Vlessing,
HollywoodReporter,
1 May 2026
Adjective
-
The nearly invisible Thoreau – the compulsively quantitative and analytically rigorous physical scientist – emerged from my research as a geologist interested in the history of 19th-century science.—
Robert M. Thorson,
The Conversation,
8 May 2026
-
Small ones, constant ones, invisible ones.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
8 May 2026
Adjective
-
The important things are often bodiless.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 Mar. 2026
-
Her testimony led to the U.K.’s first bodiless murder conviction.—
Udita Jhunjhunwala,
Variety,
22 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Whether his methods were properly conducted science is immaterial.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 May 2026
-
This is likely to become an increasingly immaterial factor as the company's sales mix shifts .—
Zev Fima,
CNBC,
12 May 2026
Adjective
-
In Ayurveda, Prana, the life force carried by the breath, is understood to nourish both the mind and body and can be viewed as a nonphysical substance, finer than oxygen.—
Trisha Swift,
Forbes.com,
28 July 2025
-
In accounting, intangible assets are nonphysical possessions including such things as brands and intellectual property, software, mineral rights ‒ and contracts.—
Alexander Coolidge,
The Enquirer,
2 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Incorporeal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/incorporeal. Accessed 14 May. 2026.
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