Meaning & use
telepathy
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountable
The supposed ability to communicate thoughts or feelings directly from one mind to another without speaking or writing.
Grammar: No plural; often used with 'by' or 'through': communicate by telepathy.
Patterns
- by telepathy
- use telepathy
- believe in telepathy
Some people claim they can send messages by telepathy.
The twins seemed to know what each other was thinking, as if by telepathy.
Scientists have found no evidence that telepathy exists.
Common combinations
- by telepathy
- He said he could communicate with animals by telepathy.
- believe in telepathy
- She doesn't believe in telepathy or other psychic powers.
- mental telepathy
- The story is about a man with the power of mental telepathy.
- use telepathy
- In the film, the aliens use telepathy to speak to humans.
Synonyms and how they differ
- mind reading
- A more everyday term for the same idea, often used in a less technical or more skeptical way.
- thought transference
- A formal phrase used mostly in older or parapsychology texts.
Word family
- telepathic adjective
- Having or relating to telepathy, as in 'telepathic powers'.
- telepathically adverb
- In a way that involves telepathy, as in 'communicate telepathically'.
- telepath noun
- A person who is believed to have telepathic abilities.
Commonly confused: telepathy or telekinesis?
telepathy vs telekinesis
Telekinesis is moving objects with the mind; telepathy is sending thoughts between minds.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'telepathy' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Telepathy' means mind-to-mind communication, so 'communicate by telepathy' fits. Option 0 describes telekinesis (moving objects), option 2 wrongly makes it plural, and option 3 uses it as a verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “telepathy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.