ethereal
Americanadjective
-
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.
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 ether
an ethereal solution
-
of or relating to the ether
Other Word Forms
- ethereality noun
- ethereally adverb
- etherealness noun
- ethereous adjective
- nonethereal adjective
- nonethereality noun
- nonethereally adverb
- nonetherealness noun
- unethereal adjective
- unethereally adverb
- unetherealness noun
Etymology
Origin of ethereal
First recorded in 1505–15; from Latin aethere(us) (from Greek aithérios ), equivalent to aether- ether + -eus adjective suffix + -al 1
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.
And she looked just as ethereal tonight on the red carpet in an incredibly voluminous peplum-skirted dress.
From BBC
Charles made out a delicate hand holding an ethereal fabric veil across its face.
From Literature
This work is ethereal, and maybe something solid will create a knot.’
From Los Angeles Times
She feels borne along by the ethereal sounds and unaccountably stirred by the slightest tonal changes.
Directors Hammerling and Baghdadi don’t have a huge mystery on their hands, and the direction and choice of imagery and editing generate a sense of ethereal wonder and elusiveness, rather than suspense or high drama.
Definitions 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.
