eldritch

[ el-drich ]

/ ˈɛl drɪtʃ /

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adjective

eerie; weird; spooky.

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Also el·drich; el·ritch

[el-rich] /ˈɛl rɪtʃ/ .

Origin of eldritch

1500–10; earlier elrich, equivalent to Old English el- foreign, strange, uncanny (see else) + rīce kingdom (see rich); hence “of a strange country, pertaining to the Otherworld”; compare Old English ellende in a foreign land, exiled (cognate with German Elend penury, distress)

Words nearby eldritch

ELDR, Eldred, Eldredge, eldress, Eldridge, eldritch, Elea, Eleanor, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Eleanor of Castile, Eleanor of Provence

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use eldritch in a sentence

There are also plenty of more complex designs available if you want to let your fandom flag fly, or even pay homage to your favorite eldritch God.
Organize and accessorize your board games with 3D printing|RK Pendergrass|February 26, 2021|Popular-Science
The injured and indignant animal gave vent to a succession of eldritch screams.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
And the woman, whose voice had risen to a kind of eldritch sing-song, turned with a skip, and was gone.
Kidnapped|Robert Louis Stevenson
The gossipy gables of the old houses lean toward each other like peaked eldritch faces in fluted red caps.
Major Prophets of To-Day|Edwin E. Slosson

An eldritch laugh at a little window, which communicated with the street, at this moment electrified the speaker.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 62, No. 383, September 1847|Various
I thought as I came alang I had a sort of a feeling as of a wraith nigh about me—a lang, eldritch sort o' a form i' the mist.'
Border Ghost Stories|Howard Pease

British Dictionary definitions for eldritch

eldritch

eldrich

/ (ˈɛldrɪtʃ) /

adjective

poetic, Scot unearthly; weird

Word Origin for eldritch

C16: perhaps from Old English ælf elf + rīce realm; see rich

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012