unearthly

/'ʌn'ə:θli/

Thân thiện

A pale, unearthly glow illuminates the ancient forest clearing.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Supernatural or otherworldly: Describing something that seems not to belong to the natural, earthly world; suggesting a ghostly, spiritual, or divine origin.
   • Eerie, weird, or uncanny: Describing something so strange, mysterious, or unsettling that it seems unnatural or beyond normal experience.
   • (Informal) Extremely unreasonable or inconvenient: Used to emphasize an extreme or absurd degree, often of an early hour or loud noise.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (Supernatural):
  • The explorers reported seeing an unearthly glow in the ancient cave.
  • Her voice had an unearthly beauty, as if from another realm.
• Adjective (Eerie/Uncanny):
  • An unearthly silence fell over the forest after the crash.
  • The sculpture had an unearthly shape, unlike any known animal.
• Adjective (Informal - Extreme):
  • Why must we have meetings at this unearthly hour of the morning?
  • The neighbors were making an unearthly racket last night.

Advanced Usage

• "of unearthly beauty": Used to describe beauty so perfect or sublime it seems not of this world.
  • The soprano's aria was of an unearthly beauty that moved the audience to tears.
• To describe a quality or atmosphere: Often used to set a tone of mystery, horror, or awe.
  • The fog gave the moor an unearthly appearance.

Variants and Related Words

• Unearth (verb): To dig up or discover something hidden, often literally from the earth or figuratively (e.g., information).
  • Archaeologists unearthed a Roman villa.
• Earthly (adjective): Belonging to this world; material or mundane. (This is the direct antonym forming the base of "unearthly").
  • He showed no concern for earthly possessions.

Synonyms

• Supernatural: Relating to phenomena beyond scientific understanding.
• Ethereal: Extremely delicate, light, and heavenly.
• Eerie: Strange and frightening.
• Preternatural: Beyond what is normal or natural.
• Celestial: Pertaining to the sky or heaven; divine.

Antonyms

• Earthly: Of or characteristic of this world.
• Mundane: Lacking interest or excitement; ordinary.
• Natural: Existing in or derived from nature; not artificial.
• Normal: Conforming to a standard; usual, typical.

Related Phrases

• Unearthly calm: A silence or stillness that is profound and unsettling.
  • An unearthly calm preceded the storm.
• At an unearthly hour: (Idiomatic) At a very early or inconvenient time.
  • The flight departs at an unearthly hour, so we must leave by 3 AM.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. suggesting the operation of supernatural influences
   • an eldritch screech
   • the three weird sisters
   • stumps...had uncanny shapes as of monstrous creatures- John Galsworthy
   • an unearthly light
   • he could hear the unearthly scream of some curlew piercing the din- Henry Kingsley
2. concerned with or affecting the spirit or soul
   • a spiritual approach to life
   • spiritual fulfillment
   • spiritual values
   • unearthly love

Từ đồng nghĩa

• eldritch
• weird
• uncanny
• spiritual