otherworldly

See also: other-worldly

English

Etymology

From otherworld +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• (US) enPR: ŭth'ər-wûrldʹli, IPA^(key): /ˌʌðɚˈwɝld.li/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

otherworldly (comparative more otherworldly, superlative most otherworldly)

1. Of, concerned with, or preoccupied with a different world than that of the tangible here and now, such as a heavenly, spiritual, or imaginary world.

   Synonyms: ethereal, mystical, transcendental

   • 1917, H. G. Wells, chapter 5, in God, the Invisible King:

     Every religion that becomes ascendant, in so far as it is not otherworldly, must necessarily set its stamp upon the methods and administration of the law.

   • 2007 August 26, Clive Davis, “Simphiwe Dana: The One Love Movement on Bantu Biko Street”, in Times of London‎^[1]:

     Dana has the otherworldly temperament of a mystic.

2. Not belonging to the real world; unnatural; odd and unfamiliar.

   Synonym: alien

   • 1919 October, John Galsworthy, chapter VII, in Saint’s Progress, London: William Heinemann, published December 1919, →OCLC, part III, 1 §, page 285:

     He had not seen cricket played since the war began; it seemed almost other-worldly, with the click of the bats, and the shrill young voices, under the distant drone of that sky-hornet threshing along to Hendon.

   • 2015 April 15, Jonathan Martin, “For a Clinton, It’s Not Hard to Be Humble in an Effort to Regain Power”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     An almost otherworldly resilience has characterized the 40-year arc of the Clintons’ political lives, a well-documented pattern of dazzling success, shattering setback and inevitable recovery.

   • 2021 September 1, Michael Levenson, Anne Barnard, “Scenes from New York City as Ida paralyzes region”, in The New York Times‎^[3], →ISSN:

     The sudden inundation from the remnants of Ida transformed familiar scenes of life in New York into otherworldly and waterlogged chaos on Wednesday night.

   • 2024 April 2, Sarfraz Manzoor, quoting Suzi Ronson, “‘Bowie said he’d sell his soul to be famous’: Suzi Ronson on sex, ruthless ambition – and dyeing David’s hair red”, in The Guardian‎^[4], →ISSN:

     “David used to say he would sell his soul to be famous,” she says. “But he was also otherworldly – and you couldn’t take your eyes off him.”

Alternative forms

• other-worldly

Translations

of a different world than that of the here and now

• Czech: nadpozemský
• Finnish: ylimaallinen (fi)
• French: d’un autre monde
• Georgian: არაამქვეყნიური (araamkveq̇niuri)
• German: jenseitig (de)
• Greek: απόκοσμος (el) (apókosmos)

  Ancient: ἀποκόσμιος (apokósmios)

• Italian: oltremondano, oltrenaturale (uncommon)
• Latin: ultrāmundānus (Late Latin)
• Polish: nieziemski (pl)
• Russian: потусторо́нний (ru) (potustorónnij)
• Swedish: utomvärldslig
• Turkish: yabancı (tr)