ethereal
adjective
Simon Peter GroebnerTaylor PiephoffDhruv KhullarPhyllis WheatleyJill LeporeNathaniel HawthorneWilliam BeebeHenry Gee
Did you know?
If you're burning to know the history of ethereal, you're in the right spirit to fully understand the word's etymology. The ancient Greeks believed that the Earth was composed of earth, air, fire, and water, but that the heavens and its denizens were made of a purer, less tangible substance known (in English transliteration) as either quintessence or ether. Ether was often described as an invisible light or fire; its name comes from the Greek verb aithein, meaning "to ignite" or "to blaze." When ethereal, the adjectival kin of ether, debuted in English in the 1500s, it described regions beyond the Earth or anything that seemed to originate from them.
Examples of ethereal in a Sentence
Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 29 Apr. 2026
And so she was granted only the time for a breath, an ethereal stroke of my cheek, a prayer to the gods of the living, before passing away and passing along an obsession.
—Literary Hub, 28 Apr. 2026
Bloom, meanwhile, looked ethereal in a black halter-neck gown with gold hardware details by Moschino, paired with black strappy heels.
—Kayla Grant, PEOPLE, 27 Apr. 2026
High tide gives you the ethereal, hovering-on-water moment that dominates travel feeds.
—Lauren Schuster, Miami Herald, 24 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ethereal
Cite this Entry
“Ethereal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethereal. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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ethereal
adjective
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ethereal
adjective
