Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
nonspiritual

nonspiritual

1 5.6
About everyday life or material things, not about religion
  • adjective
  • /nɒnˈspɪrɪtʃuəl/
translation icon : no espiritual
  • This approach is radically different from most other cultures in the world in which the spiritual and the nonspiritual, while maintaining a distinction, are not viewed as disjointed.
  • spiritual and nonspiritual

Examples

  • This view resulted in an emphasis on the distinction between the sacred and the profane, between the spiritual and the nonspiritual.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Ethnolinguistic analyses demonstrate that the Wendat language refers to both spiritual and nonspiritual streams.

    Academic text (2017)

  • It is important to note, following these definitions, that there can be both nonreligious (i.e., nonorganized) spirituality and nonspiritual religiosity.

    Academic text (1994)

  • Many people enjoy nonspiritual activities such as hiking, painting, or cooking.

  • The book focused on nonspiritual themes, exploring materialism and everyday life.

  • At the conference, most discussions were nonspiritual, centered around science and technology.

Synonyms

secular
vsnonspiritual
143 4.7

Not connected with religion, about everyday and public life

is broader, including lack of spiritual connection and a material focus
nonreligious
vsnonspiritual
3 4.1

Not connected to or influenced by any religion

also covers being unrelated to spiritual matters and a worldly focus
unspiritual
vsnonspiritual
1 7.4

Not interested in religious or moral ideas and focused on practical things

is a neutral absence rather than active disinterest
unreligious
vsnonspiritual
1 6.0

Not believing in a god or taking part in worship

is broader and more neutral, not only about visible belief or practice
nontheological
vsnonspiritual
6.7

Not related to religion or religious ideas

is wider, covering spiritual absence and material orientation beyond theology

Antonyms

spiritual
660 4.8

Relating to the soul and to religion

How Spiritual

devout
55 5.7
spiritual
660 4.8
nonspiritual
1 5.6

Surface Forms

nonspiritual positive

Morphology

nonspiritual = spiritual (transparent) = non + spiritual

The adjective is formed by adding the productive negative prefix 'non-' to 'spiritual'; learners who know 'spiritual' and 'non-' will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Nonspiritual starts with non- meaning 'not' and the rest comes from spirit or spiritual, which means 'soul' or 'religious feeling'. So nonspiritual means 'not related to religion or the soul', and we use it for things that are practical, worldly, or not religious.