Words / E / General

ethereal

adjective/ɪˈθɪəriəl/

C1CEFR level
55/100Rarity: uncommon
LiteraryRegister

Delicate and light, seemingly not of this world.

An ethereal voice drifted from the chapel.

Similar: delicate, celestial, otherworldly

Origin: Greek aither 'upper air'.

Topic: Arts & literature in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More general words: Arts & literature