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
Explanation
Something ethereal is airy and insubstantial, like a ghostly figure at the top of the stairs. This word can also describe something delicate and light, like a singer’s ethereal voice. Ethereal comes from the Greek word for ether, which means “air” or more specifically “the upper regions of space.” An ethereal substance or sound is one that carries the feeling of light and air — something you might see in a vision that strikes you as heavenly or supernatural.
Vocabulary lists containing ethereal
Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 2
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ACT Vocabulary List
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The Scarlet Letter
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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.
“The way democracy hits them is they want to have a better life, and there’s nothing wrong with talking to people about the cost-of-living crisis. That’s not smaller than talking about ethereal democracy ideas.”
From Slate • Apr. 23, 2026
That an Oscar-nominated director with a celebrated eye for the ethereal, strange world of girl-women living in beautiful boxes could make a film as workaday as this one is frustrating.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026
Directly in the center, a slender vertical window — part of the gallery’s architecture — illuminates the otherwise darkened room with a pillar of natural light, further contributing to the ethereal nature of the piece.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 2, 2026
As Wenger wrote in 1990: "Akangbe, bodily and spiritually voluminous, creates works of an ethereal, sublimely weightless loftiness. His work is a primary eruption of genius."
From BBC • Jan. 19, 2026
The prints we saw of Shelley and Byron were of ethereal young white men with flowing hair.
From "Bad Boy" by Walter Dean Myers
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.
