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ethereal

[ih-theer-ee-uh

Example Sentences Origin

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adjective

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 pertaining to the upper regions of space.

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

Also, aethereal (for defs. 1–4).

Origin:
1505–15; < Latin aethere(us) (< Greek aithérios), equivalent to aether- ether + -eus adj. suffix + -al¹

Related forms

e·the·re·al·i·ty, e·the·re·al·ness, noun

e·the·re·al·ly, adverb

e·the·re·ous, adjective

non·e·the·re·al, adjective

non·e·the·re·al·ly, adverb

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non·e·the·re·al·ness, noun

non·e·the·re·al·i·ty, noun

un·e·the·re·al, adjective

un·e·the·re·al·ly, adverb

un·e·the·re·al·ness, noun

COLLAPSE

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Ethereal is an SAT word you need to know.

So is elaborate. Does it mean:

worked out with great care and nicety of detail; marked by intricate and often excessive detail; complicated

marked by or occasioning doubt; questionable; of uncertain outcome; wavering or hesitating in opinion

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Example Sentences

But the phenomenon is anything but ethereal.

Margaret was small, fair and ethereal.

Others find it angelic, heavenly, ethereal.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

ethereal (ɪˈθɪərɪəl)

—*adj*
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

[C16: from Latin aethereus, from Greek aitherios, from aithērether]

ethere'ality

—n

e'therealness

—n

e'thereally

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

ethereal

1510s, from ether + -al; extended sense of "light, airy" is from 1598.

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

ethereal e·the·re·al (ĭ-thēr'ē-əl)
adj.