prelapsarian

American  

[pree-lap-sair-ee-uhn] / ˌpri læpˈsɛər i ən /

adjective

1. Theology. occurring before the Fall.

   the prelapsarian innocence of Eden.

2. characteristic of or pertaining to any innocent or carefree period.

   a prelapsarian youth.

3. supralapsarian.

---

noun

1. supralapsarian.

prelapsarian British  

/ ˌpriːlæpˈsɛərɪən /

adjective

1. characteristic of or relating to the human state or time before the Fall

   prelapsarian innocence

---

Etymology

Origin of prelapsarian

First recorded in 1870–75; pre- + -lapsarian, as in infralapsarian, supralapsarian ( def. )

Example Sentences

Bathers are an artistic signal for life crawling onto shore out of the primordial ooze or basking in a pastoral, prelapsarian paradise.

From Los Angeles Times

It was the prelapsarian age of the dumb phone, when we weren’t all taking photos of everything all the time and paparazzi were commanding six figures for shots of Angelina Jolie’s baby bump.

From Los Angeles Times

Even if you’re partial to the holiday season, and I am, this particular weekend can take on a prelapsarian feel.

From New York Times

It is prelapsarian, imbued with an innocence that we have lost forever.

From New York Times

“Only music, only a Brahms symphony, comes close” to the sensation of those prelapsarian gallops, she writes.

From New York Times