Dieser Vorfall ist geradezu unheimlich.

Sentence Discussions German
#1

This is translated “This incident is quite uncanny.” but I think that this is a poor translation because it softens the severity of both “geradezu” and “unheimlich”, i.e. it seems to be an understatement.

According to leo.org “geradezu” is translated “really”, “positively”, and “downright”, among others, i.e. it is an intensifying word. And “unheimlich” is translated “eerie” or “scary”.

Google translate translates this sentence as “This incident is downright scary.” This is perhaps an improvement. Perhaps there is an even better way to translate it though? I think saying “downright eerie” might be the best translation because it communicates the specific type of “scary” that “unheimlich” communicates, i.e. a sort of otherworldly, creepy or weird scary. And I like “eerie” better than “creepy” because again it emphasizes the otherworldly aspect rather than creepy which could also mean that there was just someone with bad intentions at play.

#2

I think you’re missing the ‘third level’. You’d usually use that sentence not when talking about something actually scary but (because of the geradezu) as a reference to something unuausal.

Es war geradezu unheimlich wie Eva den Geburtstag von Timo erraten hatte, gleich am ersten Abend ihres Treffens
or
Ich finde es geradezu unheimlich wie mein Chef mich immer anruft, wenn ich gerade zur Tür hereingekommen bin

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#3

Ahh, that makes sense now, thanks for the clarification!