adjective
immaterial
Not consisting of physical substance.
Many religious traditions describe the soul as an immaterial part of us.
Etymology
The negative prefix reverses material. Immaterial describes something without physical substance, distinguishing ideas or spiritual entities from objects made of matter.
More examples
- In the story, the ghost is immaterial and passes through walls.
- The philosopher argues that numbers are immaterial entities.
- Unlike a printed page, the idea it expresses is immaterial.
Forms
immaterial
immateriality noun — The state of lacking physical substance.
Similar words
- incorporeal
- Often describes spirits or souls as having no body.
- nonphysical
- More broadly contrasts mental or abstract things with bodily reality.