Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Strange or unearthly; eerie.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Local, Eng. Hideous; ghastly.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
unearthly ,alien ,supernatural ,weird ,spooky ,eerie
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective suggesting the operation of supernatural influences
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word eldritch.
Examples
-
Like bitter juice scratched in eldritch patience and dried on vellum skin. plethora convoluted diadem
Rockin' babies and finally done with the class deep_bluze 2004
-
Berwin gave a kind of eldritch shriek and stepped back a pace, as though to place himself on his guard.
The Silent House Fergus Hume 1895
-
And the woman, whose voice had risen to a kind of eldritch sing-song, turned with a skip, and was gone.
-
And the woman, whose voice had risen to a kind of eldritch sing-song, turned with a skip, and was gone.
Kidnapped Robert Louis Stevenson 1872
-
It appears to be Jesus on Mary's calendar, but that woman is looking at it like it's some kind of eldritch abomination from the bowels of the universe.
Blogtimore, Hon comics 2010
-
With the help of editor Paula R. Stiles and a band of eldritch writers she publishes the online zine Innsmouth Free Press.
April 2010 2010
-
With the help of editor Paula R. Stiles and a band of eldritch writers she publishes the online zine Innsmouth Free Press.
-
Born in Austria in the mid-'70s, he's been working under a collective of nom de plumes to add to his eldritch bearing.
Phil Ramone and Danielle Evin: Dog Ears Music: Volume 160 Phil Ramone 2011
-
Join us, intrepid explorers, as we journey once again into the depths of the Penny Arcade archives, facing eldritch curses and monstrous perils aplenty in our quest to unearth the ancient treasures of the year 2004 A.D.!
Dark Horse Solicitations for May 2008 | Major Spoilers - Comic Book Reviews and News 2009
-
 She now sits on her throne on an abandoned world, trying to control the eldritch power roiling within her.
Dueling Review: Adventure Comics #4 | Major Spoilers - Comic Book Reviews and News 2009
brtom commented on the word eldritch
"I anticipated some such reception, he began with an eldritch laugh, for which, it seems, history is to blame."
Joyce, Ulysses, 14
January 21, 2007
seanmeade commented on the word eldritch
etymology is 'elf kingdom' (the word for kingdom in Old English being 'rice' like in the German 'reich')
March 26, 2007
sionnach commented on the word eldritch
There's something remarkably satisfying about this word. Eldritch. Eldritch. Eldritch.
To me, it conjures up weird images of Ethelred the Unready, waking up in some kind of a ditch, after a particularly unsatisfying altercation with the ditch-phuca.
April 16, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word eldritch
Blecch. Not to me. I was in a production of "The Rimers of Eldritch" years ago and I loathed it. So now the word makes me think of that experience. *shudders*
April 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word eldritch
Ditch-phuca? In lieu of actually knowing what you mean, I have to assume that you are talking about some sort of Old World chupacabra.
Poor Ethelred!
April 16, 2008
bilby commented on the word eldritch
It's a dull word. Could be the name of a stodgy cricket player who only scores runs between mid-on and mid-off. "Yes, it's a fine knock by Eldritch today who looks as if he'll make ten by lunch. All in singles of course but lovely technique. I haven't seen a left elbow so high since Kippax and indeed Trumper."
April 16, 2008
yarb commented on the word eldritch
Am I the only one here to think of the singer from Sisters of Mercy?
I'll get me cloak...
April 16, 2008
milosrdenstvi commented on the word eldritch
I'd never seen this word before reading H. P. Lovecraft. He manages to stick it at least once into each of his stories.
January 21, 2010
qms commented on the word eldritch
It's the tolling of faint elfin bells which
Makes night in each dingle and dell rich
With sounds that awaken
Deep mem'ries forsaken,
And echoes most eerily eldritch.
September 7, 2014
qms commented on the word eldritch
Judging from comments submitted in years past this word is very evocative - of Anglo-Saxon kings, obscure dramas, boring cricketers, faded rock stars, etc… It brings to my mind a name that a clever marketeer might coin for one of those retirement homes for the wealthy that proliferate these days: “Eldritch House.” It suggests a dignified final haven for the elderly rich while at the same time discouraging trespassers.
September 7, 2014
vendingmachine commented on the word eldritch
What would I do without RANDOM WORD search? I can't live without it. Not even for a day.
July 8, 2015