liminal space
Americannoun
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a state or place characterized by being transitional or intermediate in some way: In the film, Venice is a liminal space where the real and imaginary meet.
Motels are such liminal spaces—everyone there is either coming or going.
In the film, Venice is a liminal space where the real and imaginary meet.
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Informal. any location that is unsettling, uncanny, or dreamlike.
The classroom when school is out for the summer is a liminal space.
Etymology
Origin of liminal space
First recorded in 1970–75
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.
“Backrooms,” the No. 1 movie in the country currently, is a horror movie that takes place in a seemingly endless liminal space that articulates itself as generic strip mall or office spaces.
From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2026
“You can’t quite grasp onto the firm, lived-in details of the place,” Parsons said, describing the yellow liminal space.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
Puppets create a liminal space between the quotidian and the fantastic, while inhabiting the same, actual three-dimensional space as the rest of us.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2026
That liminal space for me is just perfect for writing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2026
All three sisters found themselves single, and the music inhabits that strange liminal space where you're relieved to be free, but not quite ready to move on.
From BBC ● Dec. 13, 2025
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
