parasympathetic
UK/ˌpa.ɹə.sɪm.pəˈθɛt.ɪk/US/ˌpɛɹ.ə.sɪm.pəˈθɛt.ɪk/
parasympathetic adjective: of or relating to the part of the autonomic nervous system that inhibits or opposes the effects of the sympathetic nervous system. It consists of nerves arising from the brain and the lower end of the spinal cord and supplying the internal organs, blood vessels, and glands. Also the ellipsis of parasympathetic nervous system.
Adjective
parasympathetic (not comparable)
- Of or relating to the part of the autonomic nervous system that inhibits or opposes the effects of the sympathetic nervous system. It consists of nerves arising from the brain and the lower end of the spinal cord and supplying the internal organs, blood vessels, and glands.
- Antonyms:
- sympathetic
Noun
parasympathetic (plural parasympathetics)
- A parasympathetic nerve.
Also used as
parasympathetic is also the ellipsis of parasympathetic nervous system.
Antonyms of parasympathetic
Forms of parasympathetic
| plural | parasympathetics |
|---|
Origin of parasympathetic
From para- (“beside, adjacent to”) + sympathetic, because some of these nerves run alongside sympathetic nerves.
Words formed from parasympathetic
- cardioparasympathetic
- parasympathetically
- parasympathetic nervous system
- parasympatho-
- parasympath-
- trigemino-parasympathetic
Phrases with parasympathetic
Words that rhyme with parasympathetic
- sympathetic
- hermetic
- kinetic
- athletic
- genetic
- magnetic
- energetic
- pathetic
- syndetic
- aesthetic
- diabetic
- diaeretic
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- frenetic
- mimetic
- peripatetic
- planetic
- poetic
- tonetic
- abietic
- anesthetic
- anoetic
- anuretic
- apathetic
- ascetic
- auxetic
- cybernetic
- dietetic
- epithetic
- Helvetic
- parenthetic
- phyletic
- Sidetic
- splenetic
- synaeretic
- synizetic
- tabetic
- threnetic
- alexipyretic
- algetic
- alphabetic
- alphametic
- amuletic
- analgetic
- anchoretic
- anoretic
- aphetic
- aporetic
- archegetic
- asyndetic
- auletic
- autonoetic
- balletic
- Baphometic
- cardioparasympathetic
- cardiosympathetic
- cometic
- conspiracy-theoretic
- cynegetic
- diagenetic
- diakinetic
Questions about parasympathetic
- What does parasympathetic mean?
- Parasympathetic means of or relating to the part of the autonomic nervous system that inhibits or opposes the effects of the sympathetic nervous system. It consists of nerves arising from the brain and the lower end of the spinal cord and supplying the internal organs, blood vessels, and glands.
- What part of speech is parasympathetic?
- Parasympathetic can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce parasympathetic?
- Parasympathetic is pronounced /ˌpa.ɹə.sɪm.pəˈθɛt.ɪk/ (UK).
Words near parasympathetic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: parasympathetic (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.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “parasympathetic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/parasympathetic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.