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.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of liminal
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
Not unlike a veranda with its open railings just outside of a structure—a liminal space neither indoors nor outdoors—languages, too, are permeable and liminal at their outer edges.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Mar. 2026
Her spring 2026 runway show, held at One Hanson Place in Brooklyn, cemented her ability to bridge the liminal space between past and present.
—Vogue, 30 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for liminal
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
Not unlike a veranda with its open railings just outside of a structure—a liminal space neither indoors nor outdoors—languages, too, are permeable and liminal at their outer edges.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Mar. 2026
Her spring 2026 runway show, held at One Hanson Place in Brooklyn, cemented her ability to bridge the liminal space between past and present.
—Vogue, 30 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for liminal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for liminal
Adjective
-
Is there a subtle way to say something?—
Judith Martin,
Sun Sentinel,
14 May 2026
-
Many viewers interpreted the scene as a subtle reference to Sweeney's political beliefs after BuzzFeed reported in August that Sweeney was registered as a Republican in Florida.—
Anthony Robledo,
USA Today,
13 May 2026
Adjective
-
Looking beyond the main structure captured by Webb, the galaxy’s spiral arms extend into a faint, wide ring of hydrogen gas stretching thousands of light-years.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
10 May 2026
-
Meucci started seeing bright lights and feeling faint.—
Chris Hoffman,
CBS News,
9 May 2026
Adjective
-
This is what the studio can show us, a process self-evident in the studio, but which can illuminate unseen processes outside it, a world as construction, rather than as discovery.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 May 2026
-
Look to the eastern sky in the hour preceding dawn on May 14 to catch a rare sight, as the moon, Saturn and Mars form a cosmic triangle in the glow of the rising sun, while the ice giant Neptune lurks unseen nearby.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
12 May 2026
Adjective
-
After the unremarkable Chip Kelly recruiting era, which begat a slight bump under DeShaun Foster, what first-year coach Bob Chesney has done, before coaching a game, has been downright remarkable.—
Jon Wilner,
Mercury News,
9 May 2026
-
The video shows slight puffs of smoke from the Sea Star’s smokestack, and then darker smoke rising from it after the strike.—
Mitchell McCluskey,
CNN Money,
9 May 2026
Adjective
-
The nearly invisible Thoreau – the compulsively quantitative and analytically rigorous physical scientist – emerged from my research as a geologist interested in the history of 19th-century science.—
Robert M. Thorson,
The Conversation,
8 May 2026
-
Small ones, constant ones, invisible ones.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
8 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Liminal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/liminal. Accessed 15 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
