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ethereal

[ ih-theer-ee-uhl ]
/ ɪˈθɪər i əl /
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See synonyms for: ethereal / ethereality / ethereally / etherealness on Thesaurus.com
adjective
light, airy, or tenuous: an ethereal world created through the poetic imagination.
extremely delicate or refined: ethereal beauty.
heavenly or celestial: gone to his ethereal home.
of or relating to the upper regions of space.
Chemistry. pertaining to, containing, or resembling ether.
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Also ae·the·re·al (for defs. 1-4) .

Origin of ethereal

First recorded in 1505–15; from Latin aethere(us) (from Greek aithérios ), equivalent to aether- ether + -eus adjective suffix + -al1

OTHER WORDS FROM ethereal

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to ethereal

airy, celestial, exquisite, ghostly, intangible, sublime, aerial, dainty, divine, empyreal, empyrean, fairy, filmy, fine, gaseous, gossamer, impalpable, insubstantial, light, rarefied

How to use ethereal in a sentence

  • The music should be stately, sophisticated—bold enough to assert its power yet delicate enough to revel in its ethereality.

    The Absurdist Genius of Ernie Kovacs|Andy Battaglia|April 15, 2011|DAILY BEAST

  • The bird symbol involved the conception of ethereality or spirituality.

    Archaic England|Harold Bayley

  • For all its ethereality and remoteness, it yearns, "like a God in pain," over the sorrows of the world.

    Visions and Revisions|John Cowper Powys

British Dictionary definitions for ethereal

ethereal
/ (ɪˈθɪərɪəl) /
adjective
extremely delicate or refined; exquisite
almost as light as air; impalpable; airy
celestial or spiritual
of, containing, or dissolved in an ether, esp diethyl etheran ethereal solution
of or relating to the ether

Derived forms of ethereal

ethereality or etherealness, nounethereally, adverb

Word Origin for ethereal

C16: from Latin aethereus, from Greek aitherios, from aithēr ether
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
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