magic thinking

A form of magical thinking — The attribution of causal or synchronistic relationships between actions and events which seemingly cannot be justified by reason and observation.

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Meanings

nounmagic thinking (uncountable)
  1. alternativeuncountableAlternative form of magical thinking

    For the most part Communists were victims of magic thinking, according to which an impure source contaminates the information that comes from it.

    1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume III: The Breakdown, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozkład (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 452
Cite this entry
APA

magic thinking. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/magic%20thinking

MLA

“magic thinking.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/magic%20thinking. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “magic thinking,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/magic%20thinking.

Source: magic thinking on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.