aerial
Americanadjective
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of, in, or produced by the air.
aerial currents.
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inhabiting or frequenting the air.
aerial creatures.
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operating on a track or cable elevated above the ground.
an aerial ski lift up the mountainside.
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reaching far into the air; high; lofty.
aerial spires.
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partaking of the nature of air; airy.
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unsubstantial; visionary.
aerial fancies.
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having a light and graceful beauty; ethereal.
aerial music.
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Biology. growing in the air, as the adventitious roots of some trees.
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pertaining to or used for, against, or in aircraft.
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supplied or performed by means of aircraft.
aerial support; aerial reconnaissance.
adjective
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of, relating to, or resembling air
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existing, occurring, moving, or operating in the air
aerial cable car
aerial roots of a plant
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ethereal; light and delicate
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imaginary; visionary
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extending high into the air; lofty
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of or relating to aircraft
aerial combat
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of aerial
1595–1605; 1900–05 aerial for def. 11; < Latin āeri ( us ) of the air (< Greek āérios, equivalent to āer- (stem of āḗr air 1 ) + -ios adj. suffix) + -al 1
Explanation
Things that are aerial are happening in the air: birds, planes, and missiles are all aerial things. When talking about things that are literally up in the air, you can use the word aerial. If a country sends planes to bomb another country, that's an aerial attack. In football, the passing game is called the aerial game. Anything light and airy can also be called aerial, and an aerial is a device that picks up radio or TV signals: it plucks them out of the air. So when you see the word aerial, just think "air."
Vocabulary lists containing aerial
Flying High: Aviation Words
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Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 1
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Elements of the Universe: Aer, Aero ("Air")
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Other highlights included Daniela's death-defying dance break, complete with aerial splits, that led into Gabriella; and Megan's technotronic shakedown at the end of Pinky Up.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
One video viewed more than 1.9 million times falsely presented aerial footage of a massive student protest in June as evidence that more large-scale rallies were going uncovered.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
One of the walls in his town-hall office is covered by an aerial photo of the local pinelands.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
Mr. Kirsch identifies the tipping point as December 2017, when footage of strange aerial phenomena leaked from the Pentagon’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
I fell to my knees, my head still spinning from our aerial acrobatics.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
Show your children aerials of courses from all over the world, and talk about how different courses can look along the Pacific coast, the Lowcountry of South Carolina or in the Scottish Highlands.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
Two hours later, China had another gold as freestyle skier Xu Mengtao won the women's aerials final.
From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026
A medal in Milano-Cortina would emulate his mother Colette Brand, who won aerials bronze in Nagano in 1998.
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2026
Before the aerials, the back handsprings, the 100-meter dashes and relay handoffs, these seemingly otherworldly talents are still regular people.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2024
It was in the fourth block we came to, a tall, bland building with peeling blue paint and with television aerials sticking out from the verandahs.
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
