psychotropism means the desire for or pursuit of altered states of consciousness. It carries an Arena rating of 1386, earned across 12 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, psychotropism ranks #1,455 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words, #2,021 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #3,088 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #3,191 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words.
Why “psychotropism” is a great word
PSYCHOTROPISM — [Noun] The active pursuit of altered states of consciousness, often through external means. From the combining form psycho- (from Greek psykhē, meaning 'soul, mind') + -tropism (from Greek tropos, meaning 'turning, direction'). Unlike introspection, which implies a passive, inward gaze at existing thoughts, or sobriety, which denotes a clear-headed, unaltered state, psychotropism is the willful outward turn toward transformation. It is the hand reaching for the peculiar tincture, the pilgrim’s arduous ascent toward a dizzying peak, and the deliberate tuning of a radio dial to find the static between stations—a quiet confession that the given state of being is not enough, and that the mind must sometimes flee itself to find what it lacks.
Etymology
From psycho- + -tropism.
noun
- The desire for or pursuit of altered states of consciousness.e.g.“When the level of illicit drug use is added to this, it becomes apparent that psychotropism is something which affects something like half the population in America.” — 1984, Brian M. Stableford, Future Man, page 139:
- The alteration of one's mental state or brain structure.e.g.“It seems that N-methyl substitution tends unspecifically to increase psychotropism of different compounds without predetermining the quality of the effect being enhanced.” — 1967, Edwin Dunlop, Psychosomatic Medicine, page 150:
- The desire for mental stimulation and knowledge.e.g.“What is the explanation of this greatest of all the tropic or turning responses of nature – psychotropism?” — 1921, George Park Fisher, George Burton Adams, Henry Walcott Farnam, The Yale Review - Volume 11, page 341:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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