Meaning & use
unearthly
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Meanings
adjectivecomparableliterary
Strange and frightening in a way that seems to belong to another world rather than to ordinary life.
Grammar: Before a noun or after be: an unearthly glow; the sound was unearthly.
Patterns
- an unearthly something
- be unearthly
An unearthly scream echoed across the empty marsh.
The fog gave the harbor an unearthly glow.
The singer's voice had an unearthly beauty that silenced the crowd.
adjectivebefore a nouninformalhumorous
Unreasonably early or inconvenient, used almost always about the hour of the day.
Grammar: Almost always in the set phrase an unearthly hour.
Patterns
- at an unearthly hour
We left for the airport at an unearthly hour.
Why does the bakery open at such an unearthly hour?
She calls me at unearthly hours when she forgets the time difference.
Word forms
| comparative | more unearthly |
|---|---|
| superlative | most unearthly |
Common combinations
- unearthly hour
- The alarm rang at an unearthly hour.
- unearthly glow
- The moon cast an unearthly glow over the lake.
- unearthly scream
- An unearthly scream came from the woods.
- unearthly silence
- An unearthly silence fell over the village.
- unearthly beauty
- The northern lights had an unearthly beauty.
Synonyms and how they differ
- eerie
- Eerie is more common in everyday speech and suggests creepy quiet, while unearthly suggests something from beyond this world.
- supernatural
- Supernatural states plainly that something is beyond nature, but unearthly describes the strange feeling it gives.
- otherworldly
- Otherworldly is gentler and can be admiring, whereas unearthly is often more frightening.
- ghostly
- Ghostly is tied to ghosts specifically, but unearthly is wider and can describe sounds or beauty.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: unearthly or unearth?
unearthly vs unearth
Unearth is a verb meaning to dig up or discover something, whereas unearthly is an adjective meaning strange or very early.
Practice
We had to catch the ferry at an ___ hour, long before the sun was up.
Choose one answer.
At an unearthly hour is a set phrase meaning absurdly early. Unearthed is a verb form, earthly is the wrong word, and unearth is not an adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “unearthly”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.