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
The lower levels of the parking garage are sterile and lifeless — a liminal space of flickering lights and zero cars.
—
Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2025
This notion of the border as liminal and inchoate sits at the center of Brother Brontë.
—David L. Ulin, The Atlantic, 21 Feb. 2025
While Nick’s American passport afforded him easy passage home, Mo’s liminal immigration status not only complicated his return to Houston but jeopardized his asylum case.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 3 Feb. 2025
Reese and Friedman have discarded the bulk of the paper’s old typesetting equipment, but the interior still has the cozy, liminal atmosphere of a place where people might drop in unannounced to lodge a complaint or tell their life story, both of which are routine occurrences at the Civic.
—Chelsea Edgar, The New Yorker, 31 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for liminal
Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2025
This notion of the border as liminal and inchoate sits at the center of Brother Brontë.
—David L. Ulin, The Atlantic, 21 Feb. 2025
While Nick’s American passport afforded him easy passage home, Mo’s liminal immigration status not only complicated his return to Houston but jeopardized his asylum case.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 3 Feb. 2025
Reese and Friedman have discarded the bulk of the paper’s old typesetting equipment, but the interior still has the cozy, liminal atmosphere of a place where people might drop in unannounced to lodge a complaint or tell their life story, both of which are routine occurrences at the Civic.
—Chelsea Edgar, The New Yorker, 31 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for liminal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for liminal
Adjective
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Mulaney’s approach to social commentary on his show is even more subtle; sometimes, concentrating a sketch on a character like Willy Loman is enough.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
7 Apr. 2025
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The game is a fun but challenging exercise for your brain which asks players to group words based on subtle and sometimes tricky connections, which tests your logic and language skills.—
John W. Dean,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Being generally smaller, colder and much darker than a star, exoplanets are also harder to detect, so specialized techniques are required for capturing their faint signals.—
Shi En Kim,
Smithsonian Magazine,
1 Apr. 2025
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By subtracting these reference images from the target images, the team effectively removed the star's light, isolating the faint signals from the planets.—
Victoria Corless,
Space.com,
1 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Validate predictions by running simulations of the model on unseen data to ensure accuracy beyond training sets.—
Devadas Pattathil,
Forbes.com,
14 Apr. 2025
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During their meeting, Xi told Sanchez that the world is undergoing accelerated changes unseen in a century.—
Nectar Gan,
CNN Money,
11 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Dawn came on chilly with a slight overcast and a light breeze.—
Jeffrey A. Brunk,
Outdoor Life,
10 Apr. 2025
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The rear camera's OIS yields mostly smooth video, but there's some slight bumpiness here and there.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
10 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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That fear, paired with stigma and emotional exhaustion, can leave caregivers feeling invisible and unsupported.—
Christine Michel Carter,
Forbes.com,
12 Apr. 2025
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The phenomenon will be invisible to those on earth.—
Anthony Robledo,
USA Today,
12 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Liminal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/liminal. Accessed 20 Apr. 2025.
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