ethereal

American  

[ih-theer-ee-uhl] / ɪˈθɪər i əl /

Also aethereal

adjective

1. light, airy, or tenuous.

   an ethereal world created through the poetic imagination.

2. extremely delicate or refined.

   ethereal beauty.

3. heavenly or celestial.

   gone to his ethereal home.

4. of or relating to the upper regions of space.

5. Chemistry. pertaining to, containing, or resembling ether.

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ethereal British  

/ ɪˈθɪərɪəl /

adjective

1. extremely delicate or refined; exquisite

2. almost as light as air; impalpable; airy

3. celestial or spiritual

4. of, containing, or dissolved in an ether, esp diethyl ether

   an ethereal solution

5. of or relating to the ether

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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

That an Oscar-nominated director with a celebrated eye for the ethereal, strange world of girl-women living in beautiful boxes could make a film as workaday as this one is frustrating.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• airy
• celestial
• exquisite
• ghostly
• intangible
• sublime