numinous

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Of the few experiences I've had which I could legitimately call "spiritual" - numinous might be a better word here - two came from studying science, and the third happened during a Mary Prankster concert.

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Definitions (6)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. adjective Of or relating to a numen; supernatural.
  2. adjective Filled with or characterized by a sense of a supernatural presence: a numinous place.
  3. adjective Spiritually elevated; sublime.

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Examples (50)

  • Not content to maintain this numinous arrangement indefinitely, this invisible carpenter will one day return to earth to judge humanity for its sexual indiscretions and sceptical doubts, at which time he will grant immortality to anyone who has had the good fortune to be convinced, on Mother's knee, that this baffling litany of miracles is the most important series of truth-claims ever revealed about the cosmos. —  homunculus
  • Despite my non Fundamentalist tendencies I would also probably not want to have you as an interlocutor, given that you cast aspersions of moments and experiences that are beautiful and numinous to me. —  Your Moral Leader
  • That palpable sense of the numinous didn't begin or end there, either. —  ACNS News Digest
  • The big difference seems to be one of tone (respectful vs. mocking), and vagueness (enough to seek refuge behind metaphor, symbolism, and the numinous, if needed.) —  ScienceBlogs Channel : Life Science
  • And, unlike various other friends I've discussed this with, I have no problem with the concepts of the numinous, the spiritual and the sacred. —  Pavlov's Cat
 

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (1)

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  1. From Latin nūmen, nūmin-, numen.
 

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