as in subtle
barely perceptible by a sense or by the mind
They studied how the subjects were affected by different sounds played at liminal intensity.
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Recent Examples of liminal
Kids can exist in this in-between place full of uncertainty and porousness and ambiguity and all kinds of liminal stuff that dead dull finished grown-ups find difficult to endure.
—
Mac Barnett, Longreads, 5 May 2026
And Static wandered into liminal spaces, the inexplicable, and terrors sometimes best left unspoken.
—Richard Newby, HollywoodReporter, 27 Apr. 2026
The book portrays the city as a liminal metropolis where the line demarcating business and crime has been worn faint by heavy footfall from both directions.
—Mark O’Connell, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026
Like many lobbies in Japan, this is a liminal space to gather and prepare yourself, not a spot to camp out for more than an hour on your laptop.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for liminal
Mac Barnett, Longreads, 5 May 2026
And Static wandered into liminal spaces, the inexplicable, and terrors sometimes best left unspoken.
—Richard Newby, HollywoodReporter, 27 Apr. 2026
The book portrays the city as a liminal metropolis where the line demarcating business and crime has been worn faint by heavy footfall from both directions.
—Mark O’Connell, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026
Like many lobbies in Japan, this is a liminal space to gather and prepare yourself, not a spot to camp out for more than an hour on your laptop.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for liminal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for liminal
Adjective
-
She was left to ponder empty dresser drawers and piece together the subtle clues of their final days together.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
20 May 2026
-
The photo reveals subtle imperfections in the arc of the moon's crescent, created as sunlight fell on craters and broken terrain lining the shadowy divide separating night from day on the lunar surface.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
20 May 2026
Adjective
-
Auroras are surprisingly faint to the naked eye at first, especially during weaker geomagnetic storms, so dark skies make a huge difference.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
18 May 2026
-
That can sound damning with faint praise, with his lack of wins, but people actually mean it.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
18 May 2026
Adjective
-
Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, marked their eighth wedding anniversary Tuesday by sharing previously unseen photos of their special day.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
19 May 2026
-
The pike continued striking, repeatedly colliding with the unseen barrier until it was effectively conditioned by the experience.—
Rick Burton,
Sportico.com,
18 May 2026
Adjective
-
Reading scores, meanwhile, continued to decline during that period, reaching their lowest point since 1990 in eighth graders and pre-2003 levels for fourth graders; only last year did some states start to see slight improvements.—
Connor Greene,
Time,
16 May 2026
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Sunny skies and warm temperatures are expected in Laurel on Saturday, with highs near 83 degrees before a slight chance of showers moves in late Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service.—
Baltimore Sun staff,
Baltimore Sun,
16 May 2026
Adjective
-
Lou’s unit is sent to a rooftop to start shooting at an invisible enemy; the Khachaturian cars hear the gunfire and don’t know what to do.—
Sophie Monks Kaufman,
IndieWire,
16 May 2026
-
Experts have described the phenomenon as an invisible crisis with long-term humanitarian consequences — there are few official figures on the number of displaced people, who have almost no resources to turn to once violence forces them to leave.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
16 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Liminal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/liminal. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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