netherworld.

1. A realm conceived as lying beyond or beneath the ordinary living world, especially a realm of the dead.

2. A concealed, obscure, or marginal sphere of activity described as a separate world.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• the netherworld
• a passage to the netherworld

On the page

The tale’s netherworld could be reached only through a forgotten name.

She interpreted the passage to the netherworld as the manuscript’s belief, not a route on the map.

Usage notes

Primary category: horror. Forms: Singular netherworld; plural netherworlds. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.