Vril

//vɹɪl// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A controllable form of energy. uncountable

    "These subterranean philosophers assert that by one operation of vril, which Faraday would perhaps call ‘atmospheric magnetism,’ they can influence the variations of temperature—in plain words, the weather; […]"

  2. 2
    Alternative letter-case form of Vril. alt-of, uncountable
  3. 3
    A kind of flying saucer supposedly built by the Nazis. attributive, uncountable

    "This technology led to the amazing German flying saucers of the Haunebu and Vril classes built under SS auspices."

Synonyms

All synonyms
haunebu

Example

More examples

"These subterranean philosophers assert that by one operation of vril, which Faraday would perhaps call ‘atmospheric magnetism,’ they can influence the variations of temperature—in plain words, the weather; […]"

Etymology

Coined by British statesman and author Edward Bulwer-Lytton in the 1871 science fiction novel The Coming Race, later titled Vril, apparently as a clipping of virile.

Related phrases

flying saucer

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