unheimlich

Borrowed from German unheimlich (“unfamiliar”). Piecewise doublet of unhomely.

• IPA^(key): /ʊnˈhaɪmlɪx/, /ʊnˈhaɪmlɪk/ (or as German, below)

unheimlich (comparative more unheimlich, superlative most unheimlich)

1. Weird, uncanny. [from 19th c.]
   • 1936, Isiah Berlin, letter, 3 Jun 1936:

     My point is that there is no grand single line, everything is in bits, & often absolutely dead, & always very unheimlich, almost macabre.

   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 272:

     Werfner, damn him, keen-witted but unheimlich, is obsessed with railway lines

   • 2009, Søren Kirkegaard, translated by MG Piety, Repetition, Oxford, page 33:

     The music rings throughout the hall, somewhat unheimlich, given that the place is so empty.

From Middle High German unheimlich, from Old High German *unheimlīh, equivalent to un- +‎ heimlich (“familiar”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈʊnˌhaɪ̯m.lɪç/, /ˌʊnˈhaɪ̯m.lɪç/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

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• Hyphenation: un‧heim‧lich

unheimlich (strong nominative masculine singular unheimlicher, comparative unheimlicher, superlative am unheimlichsten)

1. uncanny, creepy, eerie (causing fearful discomfort)

   Synonym: nicht geheuer

   jemandem ist etwas unheimlich ― something creeps someone out

2. incredible, massive (very large in scope, amount or ambition)

   Synonym: unglaublich

   Das war eine unheimliche Leistung. ― That was an incredible effort.

• heimlich

unheimlich

1. extremely, incredibly; a strong intensifier

   Ich freue mich unheimlich über diese Medaille. ― I am extremely happy about this medal.

   • 1995, Christian Kracht, “Fünf”, in Faserland, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, published 2020, →ISBN:

     Die Leute sind alle unheimlich freundlich zu mir, obwohl ich, wie gesagt, absolut niemand kenne.

     The people are all incredibly friendly towards me, even though I literally don't know anyone here, as I said.

• “unheimlich” in Duden online
• “unheimlich”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[1] (in German)

Borrowed from German unheimlich.

unheimlich (comparative unheimlichare, superlative unheimlichast)

1. (uncommon) unheimlich, uncanny, eerie, spooky

   Synonym: kuslig

   • 1944, Margit Abenius, Kontakter, Stockholm: Albert Bonniers Förlag, page 159:

     Recensenten K. J. vandrar på tankens luftigaste bivägar och upptäcker alltid sådant som ingen har sett förut eller tänkt på, hon skriver djupsinnigt om "nattens vanfrejd" i en rationalistisk tid och om drömmarnas goda gåva, hon strövar som gatudrömmare omkring i städernas landskap och flätar in naturiakttagelser av ett särartat behag, där naturen på ett egendomligt sätt – som ibland berör den som skriver detta en smula unheimlich – förvandlas till konst, sceneri, skådespel.

     The reviewer K. J. wanders the breeziest byways of thought and always discovers things that no one has seen before or thought about, she writes profoundly about the "disgrace of the night" in a rationalist age and about the good gift of dreams, she roams the urban landscape like a streetwalker and weaves in observations of nature of a peculiar kind, in which nature in a strange way - which sometimes affects the writer a little uncannily - is transformed into art, scenery, spectacle.

   • 2025 April 18, 17:52 from the start, in Cyklopernas land, episode Kissemiss, spoken by Elis Monteverde Burrau, Sveriges Television:

     Johan Rheborgs excentriska rollfigur här heter Ernst. Vilket är lite unheimlich, då jag kom att tänka på det här på grund av en annan Ernst, nämligen Billgren.

     Johan Rheborg's eccentric character here is called Ernst. Which is a bit uncanny, as I came to think of this because of another Ernst, namely Billgren.