liminal space
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.24 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
4
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A depiction of an empty or abandoned place, often made to appear unsettling, surreal, or nostalgic.
noun
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see liminal, space.
Example Sentences
- "In fact, the most uncanny contemporary liminal spaces combine the familiarity of, say, a New York City tourist magnet with an unnatural emptiness. Then again, a liminal space can be somewhere you could imagine dreaming about or seeing on TV. It can be tinged with tragedy or just inexplicably sad in its ordinariness. Liminal spaces can be both comforting and discomforting, nostalgic and unsettling, intimate and unnatural."
- "Michael Kinnan's sendup of "Titanic" explores the liminal space between tribute and affectionate satire."
Etymology
From liminal (“of or pertaining to an entrance or threshold”) + space, due to originally focusing on "in-between" spaces such as hallways and stairwells.