What does synaesthetic mean?
Synaesthetic describes experiences or artworks that connect different senses. It is especially associated with synaesthesia, in which a person may automatically perceive colours when hearing music, or shapes and textures when seeing spoken words. The term can also describe art that deliberately combines sound, colour, movement or texture so that one sensory impression reinforces another. In everyday use, “synaesthetic” is often metaphorical: a performance, design or image may be called synaesthetic when it stimulates several senses at once. Its strongest association is with the unusual perceptual experience of hearing music and seeing colour, but the word applies more broadly to any intentional fusion of sensory effects. It is more precise than “multisensory,” because it suggests a meaningful connection between different sensory impressions rather than simply presenting them together.
Relating to the simultaneous stimulation or experience of different senses, especially vision and hearing.
"The scientist studied synaesthetic perception in musicians who experienced sound as colour."
Often used in medical and psychological contexts, and more broadly for artworks that combine sensory effects.
A person who experiences one sense through another, especially by hearing sounds as colours or shapes.
"The exhibition welcomed several synaesthetes whose responses shaped the lighting design."
This noun is uncommon in general usage; the more familiar term is “person with synaesthesia.”
Some people hear colours or see music: synaesthesia turns the senses into an unusually connected orchestra.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does synaesthetic come from?
The word combines the combining form syn- meaning “together” with aesthetic, which comes from Greek aisthesis, meaning “perception” or “sensation.” The related noun synaesthesia was developed in the modern scientific study of perception to name the phenomenon of experiencing one sense through another. Its Greek elements parallel those in aesthetic and aesthetics, while anesthesia shows the same root in a different compound with a contrasting meaning.
Related word forms
How synaesthetic is actually used
The word is primarily used in discussions of perception, neuroscience and the arts. In medical contexts, synaesthesia denotes a condition in which stimulation of one sensory pathway produces an automatic experience in another; the spelling without the final “a” is also standard in some styles.
Easily confused with synaesthetic
Synaesthetic describes the blending or simultaneous experience of different senses, whereas synthetic usually means artificially made or chemically manufactured.