otherworldly
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌʌðəˈwɜːldli/
enpr: ŭth'ər-wûrldʹli
ipa: /ˌʌðəɹˈwɜɹl(d)li/
ipa: /ˌʌðəɹˈwɜɹəl(d)li/
rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)ldli
Forms: form: more otherworldly
form: most otherworldly
form: other-worldly
Etymology: From other world (“world beyond death; world other than the everyday world”) + -ly (suffix meaning ‘having the likeness of, resembling’ forming adjectives).
Senses: examples: text: In Just My Type: A Book about Fonts (2010) Simon Garfield describes [Edward] Johnston as 'a gaunt fine-boned man with a full moustache', and there's a picture of him at work with a quill pen that makes him look as other-worldly as a medieval sprite.
ref: 2012, Andrew Martin, “Everywhere in Trains”, in Underground Overground: A Passenger’s History of the Tube, paperback edition, London: Profile Books, published 2013, →ISBN, page 160:
synonyms: ethereal
transcendental
unworldly
glosses: Of, concerned with, or preoccupied with a world different from the tangible world, especially a fantasy, imaginary, or mystical world.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1919 October, John Galsworthy, chapter VII, in Saint’s Progress, London: William Heinemann, published December 1919, →OCLC, part III, 1 §, page 285:
text: 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.
ref: 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, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 Sep 2025:
text: “Hey, Rick.” “Oh, hey, kiddo. How's your Saturday?” “You know, super chill. W-W-Whatcha doin'?” “Eh, nothing adventurous. You know that race of Underground Dwelling Cannibal Horse People that we're always fighting?” “Yeah, the CHUDs. W-W-What about 'em? “Well, don't tell anybody, but I'm working on a bioweapon to use against them, so I got this barrel of horse semen from your mom's hospital and I'm just gonna, you know, subject it to some otherworldly forces.”
ref: 2021 July 11, Nick Rutherford, “Rickdependence Spray” (1:10 from the start), in Rick and Morty, season 5, episode 4, spoken by Rick Sanchez (Justin Roiland):
text: The sudden inundation from the remnants of Ida transformed familiar scenes of life in New York into otherworldly and waterlogged chaos on Wednesday night.
ref: 2021 September 1, Michael Levenson, Anne Barnard, “Scenes from New York City as Ida paralyzes region”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 Jun 2025:
text: “David [Bowie] 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.”
ref: 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 Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Dec 2024:
synonyms: ethereal
transcendental
unworldly
alien
other-worldish
glosses: Of, concerned with, or preoccupied with a world different from the tangible world, especially a fantasy, imaginary, or mystical world.
Odd and unfamiliar; strange, uncanny, weird.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1917, H. G. Wells, chapter 5, in God, the Invisible King:
text: [Leo] Tolstoy was not a saint, but he tried very hard to make himself into a saint, and the standards he applied to literature were other-worldly ones.
ref: 1947 March, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], “Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool”, in Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays, London: Secker and Warburg, published 1950, →OCLC, page 50:
text: [Simphiwe] Dana has the otherworldly temperament of a mystic.
ref: 2007 August 26, Clive Davis, “Simphiwe Dana: The One Love Movement on Bantu Biko Street”, in The Times, London: News UK, →ISSN, →OCLC:
synonyms: unworldly
glosses: Of, concerned with, or preoccupied with spiritual matters.
glosses: Of or relating to the imagination or intellect.
Derived terms: otherworldliness
Related terms: word: otherworld
word: other world
word: other-worldish
word: otherworldism
word: other-worldness