Ectoplasm
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A visible substance believed to emanate from the body of a spiritualistic medium during communication with the dead. countable, uncountable
"He saw again clearly enough[…]the doctor’s consulting room in the Avenida de la Revolución, visited for some drunken reason in the early hours of the morning, macabre with its pictures of ancient Spanish surgeons, their goat faces rising queerly from ruffs resembling ectoplasm, roaring with laughter as they performed inquisitorial operations; […]"
- 2 the outer granule-free layer of cytoplasm wordnet
- 3 An immaterial or ethereal substance, especially the transparent corporeal presence of a spirit or ghost. countable, uncountable
"Then came some hollow groanings from inside the cabinet. The Spiritualists sat up expectantly. "That's ectoplasm," said Ogilvy. "It always causes pain on emission.""
- 4 (spiritualism) a substance supposed to emanate from the body of the medium during a trance wordnet
- 5 The outer granule-free layer of cytoplasm. countable, uncountable
Example
More examples"He saw again clearly enough[…]the doctor’s consulting room in the Avenida de la Revolución, visited for some drunken reason in the early hours of the morning, macabre with its pictures of ancient Spanish surgeons, their goat faces rising queerly from ruffs resembling ectoplasm, roaring with laughter as they performed inquisitorial operations; […]"
Etymology
From ecto- (“outside”) + plasm or -plasm, referring to the fact that ectoplasm is believed to emanate from and materialize outside of the medium's body.
More for "ectoplasm"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.