Pseudolife
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Something that has many of the characteristics of life but which is not life. countable, uncountable
"A carved slave in the grave of an Egyptian aristocrat was just stone, a painted basket of food was just a painting, until consecration endowed them with a pseudolife, a ghostly existence between this and the next life."
- 2 An inauthentic life; a life that lacks something necessary for being meaningful or worthwhile. countable, uncountable
"Yes, it's a kind of suicide, this being committed to the pseudolife of mass organizations — daily suicide. Under the command of television you surrender your life to this or that organization."
- 3 A false image of one's life. countable, uncountable
"Such pseudolives leave one out of touch with one's self, one's feelings, one's desires, needs, and hopes. Illustrative may be the homosexual who has pretended to be otherwise, or the "family man" who has remained faithful but is depressed and miserable."
Example
More examples"A carved slave in the grave of an Egyptian aristocrat was just stone, a painted basket of food was just a painting, until consecration endowed them with a pseudolife, a ghostly existence between this and the next life."
Etymology
From pseudo- + life.
More for "pseudolife"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.