Transcendent
adjective /trænˈsendənt/ — Going beyond what words or normal experience can contain.
Definition
Beyond or above the range of normal or merely physical human experience; surpassing the ordinary.
Beyond the definition
Reserved for experiences that feel larger than the self — music that makes you forget where you are, a landscape that makes you feel small in the best way, love that seems bigger than the two people in it.
Origin & history
From Latin transcendere — to climb over, to exceed (trans- 'across' + scandere 'to climb').
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
The performance was transcendent — the kind you don't talk about on the way home.
There was something transcendent about the silence after the storm.
He had a transcendent ability to make the ordinary feel significant.
Synonyms
Antonyms
mundane, ordinary, earthly
Related words
Transcendent vs sublime
Transcendent describes something that rises above normal physical or mental experience. Sublime refers to an experience that is so grand or overwhelming that it inspires a sense of awe or terror.
Compare this word
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Fictional scene
Adult on hill with arms raised
An adult stands on a hilltop, arms raised to the sky, facing the sun with a vast landscape behind them.
The vastness of the setting and the reach of the adult's pose capture a sense of surpassing ordinary, physical experience, reaching for something that exists beyond merely being on the ground.
Image credit: Wordspun · AI-generated conceptual illustration