Meaning & use
liminal
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Meanings
adjectivecomparableformal
Standing at a threshold between two states, no longer one thing and not yet another.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after a verb: a liminal space; the moment was liminal.
Patterns
- a liminal space
- a liminal state
Airports feel liminal, a place where you are neither home nor away.
Adolescence is a liminal stage between childhood and adulthood.
The hours before dawn have a liminal quality.
adjectivebefore a nountechnicalmedical
In psychology and biology, relating to the lowest level at which a sensation or signal can just be noticed.
Grammar: Often seen in subliminal; liminal alone is rare in this sense.
The researchers tested the liminal level of a faint sound.
A liminal stimulus is barely strong enough to be detected.
The experiment measured liminal sensitivity to touch.
Word forms
| comparative | more liminal |
|---|---|
| superlative | most liminal |
Common combinations
- liminal space
- An empty hotel corridor is a liminal space.
- liminal state
- She lived in a liminal state between jobs.
- liminal moment
- New Year's Eve is a liminal moment.
- liminal period
- The liminal period before the wedding felt strange.
- liminal zone
- The shoreline is a liminal zone between land and sea.
Synonyms and how they differ
- transitional
- Transitional is the plain word for a change in progress, while liminal adds an in-between, uncertain feeling.
- threshold
- Threshold is usually a noun for the point of crossing, whereas liminal describes the state around it.
- in-between
- In-between is casual and general, while liminal is more academic and atmospheric.
- borderline
- Borderline suggests being close to a limit, not necessarily moving between states.
Opposites
Word family
- liminality noun
- the state of being in between
- subliminal adjective
- below the level of awareness
- preliminary adjective
- coming before the main part
- eliminate verb
- to remove (from the same Latin root)
Commonly confused: liminal or subliminal?
liminal vs subliminal
Subliminal means below conscious awareness, as in subliminal messages; liminal means at a threshold or in between.
Practice
A train station at 3 a.m., neither busy nor closed, might be described as a ___ space.
Choose one answer.
Liminal suggests an in-between, transitional place. Limited, luminous, and literal look similar but have different meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “liminal”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.