Definition of "superstructure" [su•per•struc•ture]

• A physical or conceptual structure extended or developed from a basic form. (noun)
• The part of a building or other structure above the foundation. (noun)
• The parts of a ship's structure above the main deck. (noun)
• The rails, sleepers, and other parts of a railway. (noun)
• In Marxist theory, the ideologies or institutions of a society as distinct from the basic processes and direct social relations of material production and economics. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The superstructure is a theoretical one that ran away with the entire so-called "field"."
• "The financial trading superstructure is impossible without IT."
• "“Our superstructure is made entirely of a special polymer, comrade.”"