airy vs ethereal

airy

adj
  • Relating or belonging to air; high in air; aerial. 

  • light-hearted; vivacious 

  • Having the light and aerial tints true to nature. 

  • an airy situation 

  • Spacious, well lit, well ventilated. 

  • Consisting of air. 

  • Resembling air; thin; unsubstantial; not material; airlike. 

  • Not based on reality; having no solid foundation 

  • Having an affected manner; being in the habit of putting on airs; affectedly grand. 

  • Relating to the spirit or soul; delicate; graceful. 

  • Open to a free current of air; exposed to the air; breezy. 

ethereal

adj
  • Pertaining to the (real or hypothetical) upper, purer air, or to the higher regions beyond the earth or beyond the atmosphere. 

  • Consisting of ether; hence, exceedingly light or airy; tenuous; spiritlike; characterized by extreme delicacy, as form, manner, thought, etc. 

  • To do with diethyl ether. 

  • Pertaining to the immaterial realm, as symbolically represented by, or (in earlier epochs) conflated with, such atmospheric and extra-atmospheric concepts. 

How often have the words airy and ethereal occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )