hyperstition
/ˌhaɪ.pəɹˈstɪ.ʃən/
hyperstition noun: a cultural belief (especially a work of fiction) that makes itself real; a cultural self-fulfilling prophecy where some cultural idea or hype truly brings about the thing it describes.
Noun
hyperstition (plural hyperstitions)
- A cultural belief (especially a work of fiction) that makes itself real; a cultural self-fulfilling prophecy where some cultural idea or hype truly brings about the thing it describes.
- A hyperstition can be loosely defined as a fictional work or belief system that somehow gradually takes on the appearance of reality. Obviously based on the concept of superstition, hyperstition is distinguished by being predominantly digitally spawned and proliferated.2005, Dave Szulborski, This is Not a Game: A Guide to Alternate Reality Gaming, Incunabula, →ISBN
- The lingering presence of a sensation long passed lies also at the core of the concept of hyperstition—a concept so commonly used by Nick Land and more recently by Steve Goodman that some might even consider it outworn. In an interview request to define hyperstition Nick Land replied in 2009 with...[2020, Holger Schulze, Sonic Fiction, Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 117
Examples of hyperstition in a sentence
- In an interview request to define hyperstition Nick Land replied in 2009 with this explication: Hyperstition is a positive feedback circuit including culture as a component.[2020, Holger Schulze, Sonic Fiction, Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 117:
- It is a “hyperstition”: a fiction that makes itself true because enough people believe in it.2021 December 6, Richard Seymour, “Jack Dorsey’s ditched Twitter for bitcoin. Has the social media bubble burst?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
Forms of hyperstition
| plural | hyperstitions |
|---|
Origin of hyperstition
Modelled on superstition (“belief, not based on reason, that one's behaviour can magically influence events”)
Questions about hyperstition
- What does hyperstition mean?
- Hyperstition means a cultural belief (especially a work of fiction) that makes itself real; a cultural self-fulfilling prophecy where some cultural idea or hype truly brings about the thing it describes.
- How do you use hyperstition in a sentence?
- In an interview request to define hyperstition Nick Land replied in 2009 with this explication: Hyperstition is a positive feedback circuit including culture as a component.
- What part of speech is hyperstition?
- Hyperstition is a noun.
- How do you pronounce hyperstition?
- Hyperstition is pronounced /ˌhaɪ.pəɹˈstɪ.ʃən/.
- What is the plural of hyperstition?
- The plural of hyperstition is hyperstitions.
Words near hyperstition in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hyperstition (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “hyperstition.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hyperstition. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.