adj · noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
UK:/ˈsaɪ.kəˌdɛl.ɪk/
UK:/ˈsaɪ.kɪˌdɛl.ɪk/
US:sī'kĭ-děl'ĭk
Australia:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ɛlɪk
CMU ARPABET:S AY2 K AH0 D EH1 L IH0 K
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Of, containing, generating, or reminiscent of drug-induced altered awareness, distortions of perception, hallucinations, etc.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: lysergic, psych, trippy
Antonyms: none provided
2
adj
Meaning 2
Of graphics, etc.: having abstract shapes, bright colours, etc., reminiscent of drug-induced distortions of perception or hallucinations.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: multi-coloured
Antonyms: none provided
3
adj
Meaning 3
Awesome, cool, groovy.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: hippie slang
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
Any psychoactive substance (such as LSD or psilocybin) which, when consumed, causes perceptual changes (sometimes erratic and uncontrollable), visual hallucination, and altered awareness of the body and mind.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
adjective satellite
Meaning 5
(of a mental state) characterized by intense and distorted perceptions and hallucinations and feelings of euphoria or sometimes despair
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
a psychedelic experience
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
adjective satellite
Meaning 6
having the vivid colors and bizarre patterns associated with psychedelic states
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
a psychedelic painting
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
adjective satellite
Meaning 7
producing distorted sensory perceptions and feelings or altered states of awareness or sometimes states resembling psychosis
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
psychedelic drugs like psilocybin and mescaline
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ψυχή (psukhḗ, “mind, soul”) + δῆλος (dêlos, “manifest, visible”) + English -ic (prefix forming adjectives with the sense ‘of or pertaining to’), coined by the English psychiatrist Humphry Osmond (1917–2004) in a 1956 letter to Aldous Huxley.
Across languages
Translations
48 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
psigedelies
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Belarusian:
псіхадэлі́чны
(psixadelíčny)
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Bulgarian:
психедели́чен
(psihedelíčen)
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Catalan:
psicodèlic
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Catalan:
psiquedèlic
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Chinese Mandarin:
迷幻
(míhuàn)
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Czech:
psychedelický
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Danish:
psykedelisk
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Dutch:
psychedelisch
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Esperanto:
maldormosonĝa
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Finnish:
psykedeelinen
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
French:
psychédélique
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Galician:
psicodélico
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Georgian:
ფსიქოდელიური
(psikodeliuri)
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
German:
psychedelisch
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
German:
bewusstseinserweiternd
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Greek:
ψυχοδηλωτικός
(psychodilotikós)
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Greek:
ψυχεδελικός
(psychedelikós)
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Hebrew:
פְּסִיכֶדֶלִי
(psichedéli)
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Hungarian:
tudattorzító
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Hungarian:
tudatmódosító
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Hungarian:
bódító
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Hungarian:
pszichedelikus
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Italian:
psichedelico
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Latvian:
psihodēlisks
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Lithuanian:
psichodelinis
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Macedonian:
психоделичен
(psihodeličen)
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Norwegian Bokmål:
psykedelisk
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Norwegian Nynorsk:
psykedelisk
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Polish:
psychodeliczny
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Portuguese:
psicodélico
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Romanian:
psihedelic
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Russian:
психодели́чный
(psixodelíčnyj)
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Russian:
психодели́ческий
(psixodelíčeskij)
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Sicilian:
psicudèlicu
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Slovak:
psychedelický
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Spanish:
psicodélico
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Swedish:
psykedelisk
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Turkish:
psikedelik
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
Ukrainian:
психоделі́чний
(psyxodelíčnyj)
— of, containing or generating hallucinations, etc.
