preternatural.

1. Apparently outside ordinary natural explanation or what is thought naturally possible.

2. So extraordinary in degree or character that it seems beyond normal human experience.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• preternatural presence
• preternatural event
• preternatural apparition

On the page

A preternatural presence seemed to linger in the chapel.

The account described a preternatural event during the vigil.

She searched for an ordinary cause behind the preternatural apparition.

Usage notes

Primary category: gothic. Forms: Comparative more preternatural; superlative most preternatural where gradable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.