Word of the Day, July 19: 'Wraithlike'

Word of the Day: WRAITHLIKE
Pronunciation: UK/ˈreɪθ.laɪk/ or US/ˈreɪθ.laɪk/

Meaning:

'Wraithlike' means something that resembles a ghost or phantom. It typically depicts things that are pale, frail, thin, or ethereal, giving them an eerie, shadowy quality.

Origin and history:

The word 'wraithlike' comes from the Scottish noun 'wraith', meaning a ghost or an apparition. First recorded around 1513, the noun "wraith" has a somewhat mysterious and debated etymology. Some linguists link it to an Old Norse root meaning "to rise" or a term associated with a guardian or watcher.

Cultural significance and modern usage:

Wraiths function similarly to German doppelgängers. Seeing one’s own double or a floating shadow over still waters was culturally perceived as a death omen. The Insubstantial: Over time, the concept broadened to describe anything pale, wispy, or lacking physical form—such as a wisp of smoke.

Wraiths function similarly to German doppelgängers. Seeing one’s own double or a floating shadow over still waters was culturally perceived as a death omen.

Intresting facts:

In Scottish folklore and etymology, a "wraith" traditionally referred to the exact double or apparition of a living person, which was typically seen shortly before or at the moment of their death.

Someone can move in a wraithlike way, gliding so quietly and smoothly that they seem almost unreal.

Examples from literature:

1. Still more wraithlike than the mainland, fringed to the sea foam with saturnine pine, it faded away into fastnesses of impregnable desolation. - The Trail of '98: A Northland Romance by Robert W. Service
2. Only now and then, in a strange, projected, wraithlike effect, the moon ray glinted timidly on the tip of a nickel dial and, ghostlike, disclosed a human hand.-The Adventures of Jimmie Dale by Frank L. Packard
3. Against the brilliant background of swift colour changes and geometric light-shapes that so quickly merged into the familiar blur, Bert saw his companions as dim wraithlike forms. - Wanderer of Infinity by Harl Vincent
4. Occasionally these persons have in full light had some appearance, wraithlike or otherwise, some manifestation that appeals to vision, yet that they knew at the time or learnt afterwards was non-existent. - Psychotherapy by James J. Walsh

Synonyms:

• Disembodied
• Ghostly
• Bodiless
• Incorporeal
• Ghostlike
• Spiritual

Antonyms:

• Active
• Breathing
• Alive
• Live
• Living
• Animate

Read more word of the day here.