e·the·re·al

(ĭ-thîr′ē-əl)

adj.

1. Extremely light or delicate: "An ant lion ... is lovely, long-bodied like a damselfly, with a pair of ethereal wings" (Jennifer Ackerman).

a. Of the celestial spheres; heavenly.

b. Spiritual or otherworldly.

3. Chemistry Of or relating to ether.

[From Latin aetherius, from Greek aitherios, from aithēr, upper air.]

e·the′re·al′i·ty (-ăl′ĭ-tē), e·the′re·al·ness n.

e·the′re·al·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

References in periodicals archive

Rather than simply reading realist description of a well-dressed, plump man, the passage makes the grotesquely tactile M'sieur Pierre a foil to the protagonist's etherealness and positions consequently pnysicality as one of the novella's interpretative keys.

A theory of genre formation in the twentieth century

The sense of transience, of disposability lends to the songs etherealness -- both it and the relationships it documents are only here for a moment.

Music roundup: Meg Hutchinson, James Keyes, Ariel Pink, Tacocat

Jenkinson's opening movement stressed the majesty rather than the feathery etherealness, but throughout the work musicality flowed through and through.

Orchestra of St John's Church, Bromsgrove ///// ****; REVIEWS

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