1
as in metaphysical
not composed of matter
a staunch skeptic and realist, he scoffs at the very notion of ghosts and other spiritual entities
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in religious
of, relating to, or used in the practice or worship services of a religion
spiritual songs that have been sung by generations of worshippers
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in hymn
a religious song
sang a spiritual at the funeral
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of spiritual
Sara Holdren, Vulture, 26 Apr. 2026
Dhillon is the spiritual successor to William Bradford Reynolds, who held the same position for President Ronald Reagan.
—Ronald Brownstein, Twin Cities, 26 Apr. 2026
David W. Stowe, The Conversation, 3 Feb. 2026
Saturn asks for accountability, while Neptune dissolves the boundaries between the physical and the spiritual.
—Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 27 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for spiritual
Adjective
The spiritual unease that Harold Loomis brings to Seth and Bertha’s boardinghouse reaches a point of crisis at the end of the first act, with another, still more terrible outburst inevitably on the way.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 26 Apr. 2026
Dhillon is the spiritual successor to William Bradford Reynolds, who held the same position for President Ronald Reagan.
—Ronald Brownstein, Twin Cities, 26 Apr. 2026
Noun
As iconic church songs that have crossed over into secular spirituals, they were written to be memorable and singable, crowd-tested for at least a couple of generations.
—David W. Stowe, The Conversation, 3 Feb. 2026
Saturn asks for accountability, while Neptune dissolves the boundaries between the physical and the spiritual.
—Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 27 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for spiritual
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spiritual
Adjective
-
Glenn Turner, the former owner of a pagan and metaphysical shop, is running as a member of the Green Party.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
1 May 2026
-
Matarrese delves into the history underlying these two women’s longstanding feud and arrives at a tragicomic, inventive meditation on the metaphysical possibility of reconciliation and forgiveness.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Today, Lowery is an atheist, having left the Catholic Church a long time ago, but his religious upbringing still has a hold on him.—
Chris O'Falt,
IndieWire,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Skewering everything from leftist factional infighting to religious zealotry, the movie follows Brian (Graham Chapman), born in the same stable as Jesus and initially mistaken for him.—
David Faris,
TheWeek,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
In some public schools, including in large cities such as Philadelphia, students of all religions were required to read the Bible and sing Protestant hymns.—
David Mislin,
The Conversation,
27 Apr. 2026
-
The hour-long event included mournful hymns, prayers and the laying of wreaths by the participants, which included representatives from many countries around the world.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Although most heartland rockers emerged in the 1970s and flourished in the 1980s, they were deeply influenced by the legacy of the 1960s, inheriting from those years a romantic belief in rock and roll as a force for psychic and social transformation.—
Jack Hamilton,
The Atlantic,
28 Apr. 2026
-
That said, a bunch of the new content looks very cool, including a tense survival drama, a Japanese psychic bio-drama, and a new take on Man on Fire.—
K. Thor Jensen,
PC Magazine,
24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Dragons, representing sacred authority, were a motif also reserved just for the ruling classes.—
Lori Waxman,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Every 13th night, devoted locals journey up the mountain seeking a sacred cure.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Fortunately, the crowd did something very cool and chimed in to help out anthem singer Cami Clune.—
Matt Reigle OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
29 Apr. 2026
-
This new 20-minute epic was the band’s Crazy Horse moment, their idea of a rock anthem that starts with a tuneful, melancholy song and then proceeds to deconstruct it with loud report.—
Stephen M. Deusner,
Pitchfork,
27 Apr. 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
Noun
-
The epitome of that tradition is Choral Evensong, an evening service of hymns, psalms and prayers laid out by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the first Protestant archbishop of the Church of England, in 1549.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
5 Apr. 2026
-
After all, audiences may be captivated by the psalm singing itself, but then can also find more things that capture their imagination in the observational doc.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spiritual.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spiritual. Accessed 4 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
