prelapsarian

[ pree-lap-sair-ee-uhn ]

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

/ ˌpriːlæpˈsɛərɪən /

adjective

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

   prelapsarian innocence

Word History and Origins

Origin of prelapsarian¹

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

Example Sentences

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

To see the Broadway show is to be transported to a prelapsarian time before the wreckage of the Trump years, the murder of George Floyd and the Capitol Hill insurrection.

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

Like much of her music, “Chemtrails” often bends backward to grasp at an elusive and irretrievable prelapsarian state.

From New York Times