D. J. Kevles
Did you know?
Sometime back in the 16th century, we borrowed the word psyche directly from Greek into English. In Greek mythology, Psyche was a beautiful princess who fell in love with Eros (Cupid), god of love, and went through terrible trials before being allowed to marry him. The story is often understood to be about the soul redeeming itself through love. (To the Greeks, psyche also meant "butterfly", which suggests how they imagined the soul.) In English, psyche often sounds less spiritual than soul, less intellectual than mind, and more private than personality.
Examples of psyche in a Sentence
Ilana Gordon, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Dec. 2025
Did any of those disturbing circumstances creep into your psyche at all?
—Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 28 Dec. 2025
The human psyche is fascinating.
—Emma Specter, Vogue, 25 Dec. 2025
But the experience was invaluable for both his own psyche as well as the trust of the coaching staff should he be needed again.
—Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 24 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for psyche
Cite this Entry
“Psyche.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/psyche. Accessed 1 Jan. 2026.
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psyche
noun
Medical Definition
psyche
noun
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