preternatural
5
9.8
- adjective
- /ˌpriːtərˈnætʃərəl/
:
preternatural
- The fire spread, its preternatural glow reflected on the gathering rain clouds.
- preternatural power
Examples
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The businessman's cool was almost preternatural, in fact.
Fiction book (1997) -
You know, I don't think this portrait truly captures Nell's preternatural beauty.
-
See, this is preternatural movement right here.
-
"I only know that the day seemed to me of preternatural length "and that we appeared to travel "over hundreds of miles."
-
Life is still full of the preternatural.
-
When I am on the border of sleep, I seem to hear him speak with preternatural clarity.
Fiction book (1995) -
Before Sam can understand what is happening, the entire room fills with a strange preternatural light.
Fiction book (1990) -
There was a preternatural stillness about him, as if he had been hewn from stone.
Fiction book (1995) -
"I was astounded and complimented him on what I took to be his preternatural insight.
Fiction book (1996) -
His preternatural ability to solve puzzles amazed everyone in the competition.
Synonyms
61
7.0
Strange or mysterious in a way that makes you feel uneasy
36
7.8
Seeming to come from another world and very strange
7
9.6
Beyond the natural world and ordinary experience
Something beyond normal experience that science cannot explain
People or machines make it, not plants and animals
Much greater than normal but not caused by magic
Antonyms
How Unusual
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Preternatural comes from the Latin parts praeter meaning 'beyond' and naturalis meaning 'natural'. So something preternatural is 'beyond nature', which is why we use it for things that seem very unusual or extraordinary.