preternatural

adjective

pre·​ter·​nat·​u·​ral ˌprē-tər-ˈna-chə-rəl 

-ˈnach-rəl,

pre-

1

: existing outside of nature

2

: exceeding what is natural or regular : extraordinary

wits trained to preternatural acuteness by the debates

—G. L. Dickinson

3

: inexplicable by ordinary means

especially : psychic

preternatural phenomena

preternaturally

ˌprē-tər-ˈna-chə-rə-lē 

-ˈnach-rə-

-ˈna-chər-

pre-

adverb

preternaturalness

ˌprē-tər-ˈna-chə-rəl-nəs 

-ˈnach-rəl-

pre-

noun

Did you know?

Preternatural derives from the Latin phrase praeter naturam, which means "beyond nature." Medieval Latin scholars rendered the term as praeternaturalis, and that form inspired the modern English version. Unusual things are sometimes considered positive and sometimes negative, and throughout its history preternatural has been used to refer to both exceptionally good things and unnaturally evil ones. In its earliest documented uses in the 1500s, it tended to emphasize the strange, ominous, or foreboding, but by the 1700s, people were using it more benignly to refer to fascinating supernatural (or even heavenly) phenomena. Nowadays, people regularly use it to describe the remarkable abilities of exceptional humans.

Synonyms

• aberrant
• aberrated
• abnormal
• anomalous
• atypical
• especial
• exceeding
• exceptional
• extraordinaire
• extraordinary
• freak
• odd
• peculiar
• phenomenal
• rare
• singular
• uncommon
• uncustomary
• unique
• unusual
• unwonted

Examples of preternatural in a Sentence

She has a preternatural ability to charm people.

There was a preternatural quiet in the house.

Recent Examples on the Web

What marked them out as Olympians was their preternatural ability to find these pratfalls hilarious. —Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2024

Bernanke’s preternatural calm may have helped overcome the opposition of some Fed board members and congressional overseers to significant quantitative easing. —Adam S. Posen, Foreign Affairs, 14 Dec. 2015

There was a moment when Duplantis’s right arm was on the wrong side of the bar while the rest of him was over, and some preternatural sense—the lightest part of him—told him to move it. —Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2024

As the trial approached, a preternatural calm seemed to descend on Bamber. —Heidi Blake, The New Yorker, 29 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Medieval Latin praeternaturalis, from Latin praeter naturam beyond nature

First Known Use

1580, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

preternatural

adjective

pre·​ter·​nat·​u·​ral ˌprēt-ər-ˈnach(-ə)-rəl 

: beyond what is natural : unable to be explained by ordinary means

preternaturally

-ˈnach(-ə)-rə-lē 

-ˈnach-ər-lē

adverb