Mentalism: meaning, definitions and examples

Mentalism is often used in the context of a performing art where the performer appears to demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities, such as mind reading or predicting future events.

• The magician's mentalism act left the audience in awe as he accurately guessed their thoughts.
• She studied mentalism for years to perfect her skills in reading people and creating illusions.

Mind reading is commonly mentioned in situations where someone seems to know what another person is thinking. It can be used both literally (in fictional contexts) and metaphorically.

• In the science fiction movie, the protagonist had the power of mind reading.
• She was so good at predicting his needs it felt like she had a mind reading ability.

Telepathy specifically refers to the direct transmission of thoughts or feelings between people without using any sensory channels. It's often mentioned in discussions about paranormal phenomena or in science fiction.

• The twins claimed they could communicate through telepathy, even when they were separated by great distances.
• He often wrote about telepathy in his sci-fi novels, exploring the possibilities of mind-to-mind communication.

Psychic abilities are often referred to in situations involving supernatural or extrasensory powers. This term encompasses a broad range of phenomena including telepathy, telekinesis, and precognition.

• She claimed to have psychic abilities that allowed her to sense events before they happened.
• During the séance, the medium exhibited various psychic abilities that amazed the participants.