liminal space

[lim-uh-nl speys]

noun

1. 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.

2. Informal.,  any location that is unsettling, uncanny, or dreamlike.

   The classroom when school is out for the summer is a liminal space.

Word History and Origins

Origin of liminal space¹

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

I merged onto Highway 101 South just after 1 a.m., and found myself almost alone on the six-lane expressway, hurtling through an endless and open liminal space, through pools of pale-orange public lighting, past signals blinking to no one.

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He was, in a sense, living in the liminal space of Halloween.

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She leaves plenty of blood and gore on the page, which explains why “Somebody Is Walking on Your Grave” feels like a departure: It confronts mortality in a warm, inviting tone, embracing the liminal space between the dead and living.

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But it was in fact a breeding ground of artistic ferment, in which creatives grappled with what Elie calls crypto-religion, that “liminal space between belief and disbelief” that produced a wealth of thought-provoking popular art.

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That liminal space that Elie describes between belief and disbelief has closed, at least for the time being.

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