netherworld

noun

neth·​er·​world ˈne-t͟hər-ˌwərld How to pronounce netherworld (audio)
1
: the world of the dead
2
: underworld sense 4
the netherworld of deceit … and espionageR. M. Nixon
3
: no-man's-land sense 2
lost in a bureaucratic netherworld

Examples of netherworld in a Sentence

the shadowy netherworld of all-night raves
Recent Examples on the Web Brown dwarfs exist in a kind of netherworld category between planets and stars. Phil Plait, Scientific American, 19 Jan. 2024 The situation has reached a strange netherworld of off-the-record confirmations and denials where one set of sources says one thing and another says the opposite, and most likely no one is telling the whole truth. Jem Aswad Variety Entertainment News Service, al, 23 Aug. 2023 But Munch was a revolutionary Modernist in his portrayals of the Norwegian landscape, a shimmering netherworld of dramatic mountains, fjords, and surreal light. Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Aug. 2023 The current team is in a netherworld, still with Donald to lead the way on defense but overall with far less of an upside. Helene Elliott, Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug. 2023 Centered largely around the Lambert family, the films tell the tale of a father and son with a talent for astral projecting that lands them in a netherworld called the Further, bursting with spirits looking for a way back into the real world. Brenna Ehrlich, Rolling Stone, 12 July 2023 All of them, whether fictional or factual, employed the identical device of a writer going undercover to discover and expose the bigoted netherworld of white Christian America. Samuel G. Freedman, The Atlantic, 10 July 2023 There aren’t many vessels that can descend nearly a mile into the deadly netherworld of the deep sea. Michael Peck, Popular Mechanics, 23 June 2023 This regulatory netherworld, industry executives say, is partly the result of the nation’s political paralysis over guns. Zackary Canepari, New York Times, 17 Feb. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'netherworld.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1632, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of netherworld was in 1632

Dictionary Entries Near netherworld

Cite this Entry

“Netherworld.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/netherworld. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

netherworld

noun
neth·​er·​world ˈneth-ər-ˌwərld How to pronounce netherworld (audio)
: the world of the dead
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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