spiritual
1 of 2adjective
spir·i·tu·al ˈspir-i-chə-wəl 
-i-chəl,
-ich-wəl
1
: of, relating to, consisting of, or affecting the spirit : incorporeal
spiritual needs
2
a
: of or relating to sacred matters
spiritual songs
b
: ecclesiastical rather than lay or temporal
spiritual authority
lords spiritual
3
: concerned with religious values
4
: related or joined in spirit
our spiritual home
his spiritual heir
5
a
: of or relating to supernatural beings or phenomena
b
: of, relating to, or involving spiritualism : spiritualistic
spiritually adverb
spiritualness noun
spiritual
2 of 2noun
1
spirituals plural : things of a spiritual, ecclesiastical, or religious nature
2
: a religious song usually of a deeply emotional character that was developed especially among Black people in the southern U.S.
3
capitalized : any of a party of 13th and 14th century Franciscans advocating strict observance of a rule of poverty for their order
Synonyms
Adjective
- bodiless
- ethereal
- formless
- immaterial
- incorporeal
- insubstantial
- nonmaterial
- nonphysical
- unbodied
- unsubstantial
Noun
- anthem
- canticle
- carol
- chorale
- hymn
- psalm
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Adjective Doctors must consider the emotional and spiritual needs of their patients. I regularly consult our pastor about spiritual matters. The Romantic composers saw Beethoven as a spiritual ancestor. France will always be the spiritual home of wine lovers. Noun The congregation sang hymns and spirituals. sang a spiritual at the funeral See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Richard Morgan, Town & Country, 14 Sep. 2022 CIVANA Wellness Resort & Spa Just outside Scottsdale lies a world-class spa with more than 70 weekly classes to better your physical, mental, and spiritual growth in the middle of the Sonoran Desert. Sunset Magazine, 6 Sep. 2022 Now is the perfect time to pick back up habits, specifically the ones that benefit our health: mental, physical, and spiritual. Elizabeth Gulino, refinery29.com, 21 Aug. 2022 Given Alito’s description of this hypothetical person’s extraordinary Packers fandom, that person’s beliefs might even trend towards the genuinely spiritual. Matt Ford, The New Republic, 2 Aug. 2022 Francis on Monday listed instead physical, verbal, psychological and spiritual abuse. Nicole Winfield And Rob Gillies, Anchorage Daily News, 28 July 2022 The transition, for Fogle and for the reader, is from seeing Fogle’s aimlessness as a generic product of adolescent apathy to understanding it as a symptom of a broader social and spiritual deficit. Jon Baskin, The New Yorker, 27 July 2022 The cultural and spiritual aspects make recent momentum to revitalize sea gardening especially meaningful. Ashley Braun, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 July 2022 Women have to take the time to focus on our mental health — take time for self, for the spiritual, without feeling guilty or selfish. Katarina Avendano, Good Housekeeping, 29 Apr. 2022 New York Times, 25 May 2022 Elvis did the traditional Black spiritual as part of a gospel medley for his late ’60s network comeback special. Chris Willman, Variety, 17 June 2022 On the first Wednesday of each month, the chapel hosts a program series titled Twelve Moments featuring different spiritual and faith traditions. Anna Mazurek, Chron, 9 Mar. 2022 But Gibson’s complaint with American abstraction is seated less in the spiritual than the inhumanly bureaucratic. BostonGlobe.com, 4 Nov. 2021 Zoll covered religion in all its aspects, from the spiritual to the political, and her stories reached a global audience. David Crary, ajc, 8 May 2021 Zoll covered religion in all its aspects, from the spiritual to the political, and her stories reached a global audience. David Crary, ajc, 8 May 2021 Zoll covered religion in all its aspects, from the spiritual to the political, and her stories reached a global audience. David Crary, ajc, 8 May 2021 Zoll covered religion in all its aspects, from the spiritual to the political, and her stories reached a global audience. David Crary, ajc, 8 May 2021 See More
Adjective
That sense of duty, and even a kind of moral or spiritual obligation, pervaded conversations up and down the queue. Richard Morgan, Town & Country, 14 Sep. 2022 CIVANA Wellness Resort & Spa Just outside Scottsdale lies a world-class spa with more than 70 weekly classes to better your physical, mental, and spiritual growth in the middle of the Sonoran Desert. Sunset Magazine, 6 Sep. 2022 Now is the perfect time to pick back up habits, specifically the ones that benefit our health: mental, physical, and spiritual. Elizabeth Gulino, refinery29.com, 21 Aug. 2022 Given Alito’s description of this hypothetical person’s extraordinary Packers fandom, that person’s beliefs might even trend towards the genuinely spiritual. Matt Ford, The New Republic, 2 Aug. 2022 Francis on Monday listed instead physical, verbal, psychological and spiritual abuse. Nicole Winfield And Rob Gillies, Anchorage Daily News, 28 July 2022 The transition, for Fogle and for the reader, is from seeing Fogle’s aimlessness as a generic product of adolescent apathy to understanding it as a symptom of a broader social and spiritual deficit. Jon Baskin, The New Yorker, 27 July 2022 The cultural and spiritual aspects make recent momentum to revitalize sea gardening especially meaningful. Ashley Braun, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 July 2022 Women have to take the time to focus on our mental health — take time for self, for the spiritual, without feeling guilty or selfish. Katarina Avendano, Good Housekeeping, 29 Apr. 2022 Noun
With Bob, there is a kind of ascetic renunciation in his suffering that borders on the spiritual. New York Times, 25 May 2022 Elvis did the traditional Black spiritual as part of a gospel medley for his late ’60s network comeback special. Chris Willman, Variety, 17 June 2022 On the first Wednesday of each month, the chapel hosts a program series titled Twelve Moments featuring different spiritual and faith traditions. Anna Mazurek, Chron, 9 Mar. 2022 But Gibson’s complaint with American abstraction is seated less in the spiritual than the inhumanly bureaucratic. BostonGlobe.com, 4 Nov. 2021 Zoll covered religion in all its aspects, from the spiritual to the political, and her stories reached a global audience. David Crary, ajc, 8 May 2021 Zoll covered religion in all its aspects, from the spiritual to the political, and her stories reached a global audience. David Crary, ajc, 8 May 2021 Zoll covered religion in all its aspects, from the spiritual to the political, and her stories reached a global audience. David Crary, ajc, 8 May 2021 Zoll covered religion in all its aspects, from the spiritual to the political, and her stories reached a global audience. David Crary, ajc, 8 May 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
Adjective
Middle English, from Anglo-French & Late Latin; Anglo-French espirital, spiritual, from Late Latin spiritualis, from Latin, of breathing, of wind, from spiritus
First Known Use
Adjective
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Noun
1582, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing spiritual
Kids Definition
spiritual 1 of 2
adjective
spir·i·tu·al ˈspir-i-chə-wəl
1
: of, relating to, or consisting of spirit : not bodily or material
"Sometimes we can't know what spiritual damage it leaves even when physical recovery is complete." Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time
Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time2
: of or relating to sacred or religious matters
spiritual
2 of 2noun
: a religious folk song developed especially among African-Americans of the southern United States
spirituals
noun
as in anthems
a religious song sang a spiritual at the funeral Synonyms & Similar Words
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