transcendent
adjective
Laurence H. Tribe
Did you know?
The Latin verb scandere means "to climb", so transcend has the basic meaning of climbing so high that you cross some boundary. A transcendent experience is one that takes you out of yourself and convinces you of a larger life or existence; in this sense, it means something close to "spiritual". The American writers and thinkers known as the Transcendentalists, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, believed in the unity of all creation, the basic goodness of humankind, and the superiority of spiritual vision over mere logic. When we speak of the transcendent importance of an issue such as climate change, we may mean that everything else on earth actually depends on it.
Examples of transcendent in a Sentence
Clay Routledge, Fortune, 23 May 2026
In real life, her extra-long lengths are transcendent.
—Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 22 May 2026
The play is a tragedy precisely because a brief spark of transcendent value creation (the love between Romeo and Juliet) is crushed by a dysfunctional system built on extraction, feuding, and short-term thinking.
—Steve Denning, Forbes.com, 21 May 2026
The characters’ athleticism speaks volumes too, from the skateboard-level action on sidewalks to the moments when AJ awakens to the physical thrills and transcendent mysteries of catching a wave.
—Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 13 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for transcendent
Cite this Entry
“Transcendent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transcendent. Accessed 28 May. 2026.
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transcendent
adjective
