Some people seem to be born with a special intuition to always know things before they happen. Others have a special gift allowing them to see ghosts or talk to the dead. But are people with these unique talents psychics or mediums? And can the words psychic and medium be interchanged?

The answer is sometimes; psychic and medium aren’t always synonyms, and despite both having a spooky or supernatural connotation, they have distinct meanings as adjectives but not nouns.
Is someone a psychic, medium, or both?

As an adjective, psychic means “of or relating to the human soul or mind,” or something mental as opposed to physical. It’s also defined in psychology as “pertaining to or noting mental phenomena,” which describes being in tune to some nonphysical force or agency. For example, Having heard that colors can provoke a psychic response, I decided to paint the room a calming blue.

Psychic can also mean “sensitive to influences or forces of a nonphysical or supernatural nature.” So if someone or something is influenced by a mysterious force that’s outside physical science or knowledge, it’s a psychic influence. For example, it was a psychic feeling that led him to run out of the building right before a fire started.

As an adjective, some synonyms for psychic are spiritual, supernatural, paranormal, psychological, and metaphysical.

As a noun, psychic refers to “a person who is sensitive to psychic influences or forces.” For example, since she was a little girl, John’s grandmother has sworn she’s a psychic and can tell when something bad will happen. In addition to medium, other synonyms for psychic as a noun include clairvoyant, fortune-teller, and prophet.