ethereal
Americanadjective
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light, airy, or tenuous.
an ethereal world created through the poetic imagination.
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extremely delicate or refined.
ethereal beauty.
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heavenly or celestial.
gone to his ethereal home.
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of or relating to the upper regions of space.
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Chemistry. pertaining to, containing, or resembling ether.
adjective
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extremely delicate or refined; exquisite
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almost as light as air; impalpable; airy
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celestial or spiritual
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of, containing, or dissolved in an ether, esp diethyl ether
an ethereal solution
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of or relating to the ether
Other Word Forms
- ethereality noun
- ethereally adverb
- etherealness noun
- ethereous adjective
- nonethereal adjective
- nonethereality noun
- nonethereally adverb
- nonetherealness noun
- unethereal adjective
- unethereally adverb
- unetherealness noun
Etymology
Origin of ethereal
First recorded in 1505–15; from Latin aethere(us) (from Greek aithérios ), equivalent to aether- ether + -eus adjective suffix + -al 1
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.
This work is ethereal, and maybe something solid will create a knot.’
From Los Angeles Times
She feels borne along by the ethereal sounds and unaccountably stirred by the slightest tonal changes.
Directors Hammerling and Baghdadi don’t have a huge mystery on their hands, and the direction and choice of imagery and editing generate a sense of ethereal wonder and elusiveness, rather than suspense or high drama.
The lyrics were eerie and ethereal: “Who can say where the road goes? Where the day flows? Only time”
From Los Angeles Times
There was water in every direction, as far as I could see, and an ethereal mist hovered above it.
From Literature
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.
