angelic

adjective

an·​gel·​ic an-ˈje-lik 

variants or less commonly angelical

an-ˈje-li-kəl 

: of or relating to angels

angelic forms

For even they, the very devils, when they sinned, sinned by such a sin as alone was compatible with such angelical natures …

—James Joyce

: resembling, or suggestive of, an angel (as in purity, holiness, innocence, or beauty)

a sweet, angelic child

an angelic voice/smile

When women are brooding over their children, or busied in a sick-room, who has not seen in their faces those sweet angelic beams of love and pity?

—William Makepeace Thackeray

At 12, Westenra was busking on the streets of Christchurch, singing arias and Bee Gees tunes in an angelic soprano …

—Joan Anderman

angelically

an-ˈje-li-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

smiling angelically

And, oh, how good we were! How angelically and unnaturally good!

—Lucy Maud Montgomery

Examples of angelic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

On the three-track body of work, audiophiles hear angelic tunes, staticky sounds, tinkering and swirling synths, playful basslines, powerful and sultry singing, computer-sounding beats, shimmering soundscapes, acid basslines, liquid drum’n’bass and groove-inducing production. —Lisa Kocay, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2025

Portrayals of enslaved people typically show either angelic tropes or extreme suffering. —Erin Crosby Eckstine, People.com, 7 Feb. 2025

Anime-horror master Yoshiaki Kawajiri directs, and X is full of hallucinatory visions of the end times: flowing ribbons, angelic wings, and clanging swordplay are all animated beautifully. —Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 28 Sep. 2024

In Rocco and His Brothers (1960), the actor plays Rocco, the angelic working-class southern boxer who finds himself at odds with his elder bruiser brother, Simone (Renato Salvatori). —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 22 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for angelic

• allelic
• philatelic
• psychedelic
• relic
• telic