ethereal

[ih-theer-ee-uh l]

See more synonyms for ethereal 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 ethyl ether.

Also ae·the·re·al (for defs 1–4).

Origin of ethereal

1505–15; < Latin aethere(us) (< Greek aithérios), equivalent to aether- ether + -eus adj. suffix + -al¹

Related formse·the·re·al·i·ty, e·the·re·al·ness, noune·the·re·al·ly, adverbe·the·re·ous, adjectivenon·e·the·re·al, adjectivenon·e·the·re·al·ly, adverbnon·e·the·re·al·ness, nounnon·e·the·re·al·i·ty, nounun·e·the·re·al, adjectiveun·e·the·re·al·ly, adverbun·e·the·re·al·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for ethereally

easily, delicately, casually, tenderly, moderately, gingerly, softly, simply, mildly, freely, quietly, slightly, sparsely, faintly, subtly, carelessly, indifferently, nimbly, peacefully, readily

Examples from the Web for ethereally

Contemporary Examples of ethereally

His ethereally beautiful girlfriend, Marina, was with him, sitting silent in front of an untouched cocktail.
How Boris Berezovsky Made Vladimir Putin, and Putin Unmade Berezovsky
Owen Matthews
March 24, 2013

Historical Examples of ethereally

He was drunk, ethereally drunk with the beauty of the night and with love.
If You Touch Them They Vanish
Gouverneur Morris
He turned his head, and saw a dim, ethereally white figure,—Rose.
'Smiles'
Eliot H. Robinson
All the girls were beautiful—delicately, ethereally beautiful.
The House of Pride
Jack London
She was ethereally slender, brown-eyed, brown-haired, brown-skinned.
The Speaker, No. 5: Volume II, Issue 1
Various
Where were the flames that had sung to me ethereally before?
Children of the Market Place
Edgar Lee Masters

British Dictionary definitions for ethereally

ethereal

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 Formsethereality 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

Word Origin and History for ethereally

ethereal

adj.

1510s, "of the highest regions of the atmosphere," from ether + -al (1); extended sense of "light, airy" is from 1590s. Meaning "spiritlike, immaterial" is from 1640s. Related: Ethereally.

ethereally in Medicine

ethereal

[ĭ-thîr′ē-əl]

adj.

Characterized by lightness and insubstantiality; intangible.
Of, relating to, or containing ether.

Related formse•the′re•al′i•ty (-ăl′ĭ-tē) null n.e•the′re•al•ly adv.