preternatural

3 definitions found

preternatural - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Preternatural \Pre`ter*nat"u*ral\ (?; 135), a. [Pref. preter +
     natural.]
     Beyond of different from what is natural, or according to the
     regular course of things, but not clearly supernatural or
     miraculous; strange; inexplicable; extraordinary; uncommon;
     irregular; abnormal; as, a preternatural appearance; a
     preternatural stillness; a preternatural presentation (in
     childbirth) or labor.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           This vile and preternatural temper of mind. --South.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: See Supernatural.
          [1913 Webster]

preternatural - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  preternatural
      adj 1: surpassing the ordinary or normal; "Beyond his
             preternatural affability there is some acid and some
             steel" - George Will; "his uncanny sense of direction"
             [syn: preternatural, uncanny]
      2: existing outside of or not in accordance with nature; "find
         transcendental motives for sublunary action"-Aldous Huxley
         [syn: nonnatural, otherworldly, preternatural,
         transcendental]

preternatural - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  43 Moby Thesaurus words for "preternatural":
     aberrant, anomalous, arcane, atypical, deviant, deviative, eerie,
     esoteric, extramundane, extraterrestrial, fey, heteroclite,
     hypernormal, hyperphysical, miraculous, mysterious, nonnatural,
     numinous, occult, otherworldly, preterhuman, preternormal,
     pretersensual, psychic, spiritual, superhuman, superior,
     supermundane, supernatural, supernormal, superphysical,
     supersensible, supersensual, supramundane, supranatural,
     transcendental, transmundane, unearthly, unhuman, unnatural,
     unrepresentative, untypical, unworldly