Definition of: supernatural

(s′pər·nach′ər·əl) adjective
1. Existing or occurring through some agency beyond the known forces of nature.
2. Lying outside the sphere of natural law, whether psychic or physical.
3. Believed to be miraculous or caused by the immediate exercise of divine power.
4. Pertaining to the miraculous.
—noun That which is outside the accepted and known order of nature; that which transcends nature. [<Med. L supernaturalis <L super- above + natura NATURE]
—su′per·nat′u·ral·ly adverb
—su′per·nat′u·ral·ness noun Synonyms (adj.): miraculous, preternatural, superhuman. The supernatural is above or superior to the known powers of nature; the preternatural is aside from or beyond what we have been accustomed to regard as the result of natural law, often in the sense of inauspicious; as, a preternatural gloom. Miraculous is more emphatic and specific than supernatural, as referring to the direct personal intervention of divine power. Miraculous might be termed “extranatural,” rather than supernatural. All that is beyond human power is superhuman; as, Prophecy gives evidence of superhuman knowledge; the word is sometimes applied to remarkable manifestations of human power, surpassing all that is ordinary. Antonyms: common, natural, ordinary, usual.