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
-
Nearly 4 million practice tai chi, and roughly 14% of adults practice some form of mindful or spiritual meditation.—
Samantha Agate,
Sacbee.com,
9 June 2026
-
Recently, church officials and sociologists alike have pointed to indications that young Spaniards are showing an increasing interest in their spiritual lives, with anecdotal reports of rises in conversions among young adults.—
Nicole Winfield,
Los Angeles Times,
9 June 2026
Adjective
-
Andrews has continued to work on TV, including Sinbad, as Jafar on Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, and on the Wachowskis’ metaphysical epic Sense8.—
Andrew Walsh,
Entertainment Weekly,
23 May 2026
-
Huxley’s critique is clear; America mistakes body for spirit, promiscuously confusing the physical with the metaphysical.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 May 2026
Adjective
-
Obsession, a Toronto premiere that has since turned into one of the year’s unlikeliest box-office successes with rare, late-run weekend gains, traces how forbidden desire spirals into supernatural terror.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
4 June 2026
-
Brodie explores the allure of the pop-cultural underdog and writes about her characters’ chemistry and near-supernatural connection in a way that makes improv seem like literal magic.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 June 2026
Adjective
-
This is where constellations like Leo, Virgo and Coma Berenices host dozens of faint galaxies — most invisible to the naked eye and small optical-only telescopes, even in excellent conditions.—
Jamie Carter,
Space.com,
6 June 2026
-
The injury — raw, oozing, angry — had turned our lives upside down, but it was rendered invisible in the institutional review.—
Nisha Narayanan,
STAT,
5 June 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
-
The challenge was to create something that feels almost immaterial, while still making a real shoe.—
Miles Socha,
Footwear News,
26 May 2026
-
Portofiro and the baroque universe surrounding it—communists on-world, techno-fascists offplanet, and all manner of augmentoids and spooks in the immaterial planes between—can make for a dizzying read.—
Alex James Kane,
Forbes.com,
22 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 11 Jun. 2026.
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