lethetic

English

Etymology

Ultimately from Ancient Greek λήθω (lḗthō, “to forget”).

Adjective

lethetic (comparative more lethetic, superlative most lethetic)

1. Failing to mirror reality, purely escapist or nonsensical.
   • 1984, Fantasy Review - Issues 64-74:

     These lethetic fictions cut their ties to the real world, refusing to be mirrors of life.

   • 1985, the New Orleans Review - Volume 12:

     If the structure of language is accepted as mirroring the world, the trope ceases to be a lethetic figure

   • 1989, Clayton Koelb, Kafka's rhetoric: the passion of reading:

     Lethetic reading, on the other hand, could be liberating and indeed is liberating for some of Kafka's characters and for Kafka himself some of the time

Synonyms

• unrealistic
• escapist
• fantastic

Antonyms

• alethetic

Related terms

• lethologica