ontological shock

noun

The state of being forced to question one's worldview.

“The discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence would trigger widespread ontological shock.”

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounontological shock (countable and uncountable, plural ontological shocks)

plural ontological shocks

  1. countableuncountablehuman sciencesThe state of being forced to question one's worldview.

    The discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence would trigger widespread ontological shock.

    2 more examples

    Abductees also experience what I have called 'ontological shock' as the reality of their encounters sinks in.

    1994, John E. Mack, Abduction: Human Encounters with Aliens

    Magritte offers us ontological shock treatments to jar us out of our metaphysical slumbers, but proposes no satisfying alternative.

    2025 November 2 (last accessed), “Let’s Get Real! Magritte and the Nature of Reality”, in baptistcenter.com, archived from the original on 01 May 2006, page 5
Cite this entry
APA

ontological shock. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ontological%20shock

MLA

“ontological shock.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ontological%20shock. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ontological shock,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ontological%20shock.

Source: ontological shock on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.