as in underworld
a social sphere that exists outside of the mainstream
the half-world of tattoo addicts who regard the body embellishments not merely as fashion statements but as works of art and fundamental expressions of personal identity
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Recent Examples of half-world
On a sultry Monday night a half-world away from where her problems began, the 23-year-old earned a gold medal at world championships in the biggest 100-meter race this side of the Olympics.
—
CBS News, 22 Aug. 2023
Being in that half-world of reality and filming was genuinely terrifying.
—Simon Thompson, Forbes, 6 May 2023
CBS News, 22 Aug. 2023
Being in that half-world of reality and filming was genuinely terrifying.
—Simon Thompson, Forbes, 6 May 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for half-world
underworld
Noun
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The crime drama follows a small-time Chinatown luxury counterfeit dealer who enters a dangerous black-market underworld in order to fund a life of suburban respectability for her family.—
Rosy Cordero,
Deadline,
25 Sep. 2025
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Bruno himself is preëxistingly missing, having vanished some years earlier, when things started getting uncomfortably hot in the cheese underworld.—
Kathryn Schulz,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Half-world.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/half-world. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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