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otherworldly

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: other-worldly

English

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WOTD – 1 November 2025

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From other world (“a world beyond death; a world other than the everyday world”) +‎ -ly (suffix meaning having the likeness of, resembling forming adjectives).[1]

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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otherworldly (comparative more otherworldly, superlative most otherworldly)

  1. Of, concerned with, or preoccupied with a world different from the tangible world, especially a fantasy, imaginary, or mystical world.
    Synonyms: ethereal, transcendental, unworldly
    Coordinate term: offworld
    • 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:
      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.
    • 2022 April 30, David Helvarg, “Climate change threatens another California forest, this one underwater”, in The New York Times‎[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 August 2025:
      The bull kelp forests off Northern California are sometimes spoken of as the redwoods of the sea. And like the redwoods, these forests are in danger. In less than a decade, these otherworldly undersea landscapes, lush with life, have all but disappeared along 200 miles of coast north of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.
    1. (figurative) Odd and unfamiliar; strange, uncanny, weird.
      Synonyms: alien, other-worldish
      • 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], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 4 September 2025:
        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 July 11, Nick Rutherford, “Rickdependence Spray” (1:10 from the start), in Rick and Morty‎[3], season 5, episode 4, spoken by Rick Sanchez (Justin Roiland):
        "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."
      • 2021 September 1, Michael Levenson, Anne Barnard, “Scenes from New York City as Ida paralyzes region”, in The New York Times‎[4], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 22 December 2021:
        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 Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎[5], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 December 2024:
        "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."
  2. Of, concerned with, or preoccupied with spiritual matters.
    Synonym: unworldly
  3. (by extension, obsolete, rare) Of or relating to the imagination or intellect.

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ “otherworldly, adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “otherworldly, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
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