Underworldly

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to or characteristic of a realm beneath the earth, often associated with spirits or the afterlife; describing qualities or phenomena reminiscent of a subterranean or hidden world; pertaining to a mysterious or shadowy domain that exists below the surface
2. Connected to domains believed to be below the living world, typically involving supernatural or ghostly aspects; exhibiting features or attributes that suggest an occult or secretive existence beneath normal reality; linked to a mystical or eerie environment that lies out of ordinary human perception
3. Concerning an imagined or mythic region beneath the ground inhabited by spirits or entities of the dead; indicating elements or attributes that evoke a dark, hidden, or fantastical subterranean sphere; referring to a secretive or otherworldly place beyond usual experience and comprehension

Etymology: "Underworldly" is a plain formation: the noun "underworld" with the adjective-forming suffix "-ly" added to it. "Underworld" itself is an older English compound, combining "under" with "world" to name the realm beneath the earth where the dead were thought to dwell. Its sense shifted over the centuries, and the criminal meaning of "underworld" (the world of organised crime) came later, which is why the adjective now often carries a hint of shadiness as well as the supernatural. The suffix "-ly" comes from the Old English "-lic," meaning "having the form or nature of," so "underworldly" literally means "having the nature of the underworld." Its meaning therefore follows the noun closely: something underworldly is connected to the realm beneath the living world, or to the eerie, hidden, and supernatural qualities people attributed to it.

Synonyms: netherworldly, infernal, chthonic, hellish, otherworldly

Antonyms: worldly, heavenly, celestial, terrestrial, earthly