preternatural
adjective
G. L. Dickinson
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Preternatural derives from the Latin phrase praeter naturam, which means "beyond nature." Medieval Latin scholars rendered the term as praeternaturalis, and that form inspired the modern English version. Unusual things are sometimes considered positive and sometimes negative, and throughout its history preternatural has been used to refer to both exceptionally good things and unnaturally evil ones. In its earliest documented uses in the 1500s, it tended to emphasize the strange, ominous, or foreboding, but by the 1700s, people were using it more benignly to refer to fascinating supernatural (or even heavenly) phenomena. Nowadays, people regularly use it to describe the remarkable abilities of exceptional humans.
Synonyms
Examples of preternatural in a Sentence
Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 9 Apr. 2024
Streisand and Michele were swathed in preternatural glamour.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
Like Selina Kyle being nibbled into Catwoman by her alley cats, Doug’s origin story involves a nurturing puppy pile and a preternatural ability to communicate with the army of mutts who, hilariously, do his bidding like henchmen in a gangster movie.
—Jen Yamato, Washington Post, 27 Mar. 2024
Caitlin Clark, the University of Iowa basketball player who has dazzled crowds with her deep shooting range and preternatural scoring ability, is one of the biggest draws in sports.
—Santul Nerkar, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024
But there are certain really great actors who just have that preternatural ability to just do it.
—Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Mar. 2024
Not many of your future gigs are going to involve world-class talents, caught in the preternatural bloom of youth, who happen to be equally, proficiently gifted in the areas of singing, songcraft, self-revelation and the fine art of rocking out.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 25 Feb. 2024
My daughter, an introvert with a preternatural instinct for hibernation, admired the chickens’ unerring sense of home.
—Amory Rowe Salem and Cheri Lucas Rowlands, Longreads, 9 Jan. 2024
Putin has always reserved special, preternatural contempt for traitors.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 16 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'preternatural.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Preternatural.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/preternatural. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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preternatural
adjective
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