Word.ws English Dictionary

liminal space

liminal space noun: a depiction of an empty or abandoned place, often made to appear unsettling, surreal, or nostalgic.

liminal space: a depiction of an empty or abandoned place, often made to appear unsettling, surreal, or nostalgic
Image: Acc78, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

liminal space (plural liminal spaces)

  1. (aesthetic) A depiction of an empty or abandoned place, often made to appear unsettling, surreal, or nostalgic.
    • In fact, the most uncanny contemporary liminal spaces combine the familiarity of, say, a New York City tourist magnet with an unnatural emptiness. Then again, a liminal space can be somewhere you could imagine dreaming about or seeing on TV. It can be tinged with tragedy or just inexplicably sad in...2022 November 1, Jake Pitre, “The Eerie Comfort of Liminal Spaces”, in Jeffrey Goldberg, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original...
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see liminal, space.
    • Michael Kinnan's sendup of "Titanic" explores the liminal space between tribute and affectionate satire.2021 September 30, Elisabeth Vincentelli, “Review: In 'Never Let Go,' a Solo Performer's Heart Goes On”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from...

Forms of liminal space

pluralliminal spaces

Origin of liminal space

From liminal (“of or pertaining to an entrance or threshold”) + space, due to originally focusing on "in-between" spaces such as hallways and stairwells.

Questions about liminal space

What does liminal space mean?
Liminal space means a depiction of an empty or abandoned place, often made to appear unsettling, surreal, or nostalgic.
What part of speech is liminal space?
Liminal space is a noun.
What is the plural of liminal space?
The plural of liminal space is liminal spaces.

Words near liminal space in the dictionary

  1. limier
  2. limiers
  3. limiest
  4. limina
  5. liminal
  6. liminal space
  7. liminal spaces
  8. liminalities
  9. liminality
  10. liminary
  11. liminess

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: liminal space (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “liminal space.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/liminal_space. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.