Unearthly

//ʌnˈɝθ.li// adj

adj ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Not of the earth; nonterrestrial.

    "They were, I now saw, the most unearthly creatures it is possible to conceive."

  2. 2
    Preternatural or supernatural. figuratively

    "I believe that we are the last human beings who will ever see that unearthly sight."

  3. 3
    Strange, enigmatic, or mysterious. figuratively

    "I then set out to survey the town in the self-same palankeen. The houses had all of them an unearthly appearance, by no means consonant to our ideas of Oriental splendor."

  4. 4
    Ideal beyond the mundane. figuratively

    "By the late sixteenth century Elizabeth had become the icon-like Virgin Queen of legend, an image created, to a large extent, by her extraordinary, unearthly costume and appearance."

  5. 5
    Ridiculous, ludicrous, or outrageous. derogatory, figuratively

    "I see my boys all wearing the same unearthly trousers, the same hair cuts, garish ties and sweaters, all rolling their socks and entertaining the same crazy notions about everything."

Adjective
  1. 1
    suggesting the operation of supernatural influences wordnet
  2. 2
    concerned with or affecting the spirit or soul wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
spiritualsupernaturala bit thicka bit thinaberrantabnormal

Example

More examples

"Why did you call me at this unearthly hour?"

Etymology

From un- + earthly.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.