Cabalistical

/ˌkæbəˈlɪstɪkəl/ adjective

Definition

An older or more elaborate form of 'cabalistic,' meaning relating to cabalism or characteristic of cabalistic thought and practice.

Etymology

From 'cabalist' with the suffix '-ical' (an older variant of '-ic'); this form was more common in 17th and 18th century writing but is now mostly superseded by 'cabalistic.'

Kelly Says

The '-ical' ending was basically the fancy way to sound scholarly in older English—saying 'cabalistical' instead of 'cabalistic' made you sound like you'd spent years in a university library rather than just picked up the idea secondhand.

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