Meaning & use
mystical
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Connected with religious or spiritual experiences that go beyond ordinary understanding.
Grammar: Can follow be or come before a noun: a mystical experience, the tradition is mystical.
Patterns
- a mystical experience
- mystical tradition
She described a mystical moment of peace while praying alone.
Monks in the mountains followed a mystical tradition for centuries.
The poet wrote about a mystical union with nature.
adjectivecomparablefigurative
Seeming strange, magical or beautifully mysterious, often in a way that is hard to explain.
Grammar: Often used about places or moods: a mystical forest.
Patterns
- a mystical atmosphere
- mystical beauty
Fog drifted through the trees, giving the forest a mystical feel.
The old temple had a mystical atmosphere at dawn.
Her music has a mystical quality that is hard to describe.
Word forms
| comparative | more mystical |
|---|---|
| superlative | most mystical |
Common combinations
- mystical experience
- He called the sunrise on the peak a mystical experience.
- mystical tradition
- Sufism is a mystical tradition within Islam.
- mystical power
- Ancient peoples believed the stones had mystical power.
- mystical atmosphere
- Candles created a mystical atmosphere in the cave.
- mystical quality
- There was a mystical quality about the lake.
Synonyms and how they differ
- spiritual
- Spiritual is broader and used for ordinary religious feelings, while mystical suggests direct, deep or unexplainable experiences.
- magical
- Magical suggests wonder or supernatural power, whereas mystical is calmer and more about spiritual depth.
- mysterious
- Mysterious just means hard to explain or understand and has no spiritual meaning.
- otherworldly
- Otherworldly describes something that seems to come from another realm, and is more about strangeness than religion.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: mystical or mythical? mystical or mystic?
mystical vs mythical
Mythical means existing only in myths or stories, while mystical means spiritual or mysteriously beautiful.
mystical vs mystic
A mystic is a person, while mystical is the adjective.
Practice
The monk spoke of a ___ experience in which he felt completely united with the universe.
Choose one answer.
Mystical describes a spiritual experience beyond ordinary understanding. Mythical means found only in myths, and mystery is a noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mystical”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.