unheimlich

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English

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Etymology

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Borrowed from German unheimlich.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ʊnˈhaɪmlɪx/, /ʊnˈhaɪmlɪk/ (or as German, below)

Adjective

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unheimlich (comparative more unheimlich, superlative most unheimlich)

  1. Weird, uncanny. [from 19th c.]
    • 1936, Isiah Berlin, letter, 3 Jun 1936:
      My point is that there is no grand single line, everything is in bits, & often absolutely dead, & always very unheimlich, almost macabre.
    • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 272:
      Werfner, damn him, keen-witted but unheimlich, is obsessed with railway lines
    • 2009, Søren Kirkegaard, translated by MG Piety, Repetition, Oxford, page 33:
      The music rings throughout the hall, somewhat unheimlich, given that the place is so empty.

German

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Etymology

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From Middle High German unheimlich, from Old High German *unheimlīh, equivalent to un- +‎ heimlich (familiar).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈʊnˌhaɪ̯m.lɪç/, /ˌʊnˈhaɪ̯m.lɪç/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: un‧heim‧lich

Adjective

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unheimlich (strong nominative masculine singular unheimlicher, comparative unheimlicher, superlative am unheimlichsten)

  1. uncanny
  2. creepy, eerie
  3. incredible
  4. (colloquial) large; (intensifier) very in an overbearing way
    • 1995, Christian Kracht, “Fünf”, in Faserland, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, published 2020, →ISBN:
      Die Leute sind alle unheimlich freundlich zu mir, obwohl ich, wie gesagt, absolut niemand kenne.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

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Further reading

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