Miraculous

How to spell miraculous

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce miraculous

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does miraculous mean?

1. adjectiveSo remarkable or unexpected that it seems impossible by natural means; astonishingly fortunate.

Miraculous in a sentence

• The surgeon called her full recovery a miraculous outcome.

• Everyone walked away from the wreck unharmed, which felt nothing short of miraculous.

Where does miraculous come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin miraculum, meaning 'a wonder' or 'a marvel', something so striking that it makes people stop and stare. That noun was built on the verb mirari, 'to wonder at' or 'to be amazed', which in turn came from mirus, meaning 'wonderful' or 'astonishing'. Medieval Latin formed the adjective miraculosus to describe something having the quality of a wonder, and English took it in during the late fifteenth century, partly through Old French miraculeux. The same mirari root quietly sits inside everyday relatives such as 'mirror' (originally a thing you marvel at your reflection in), 'admire', and 'marvel' itself. Knowing the buried root miracul- helps with the spelling trap: the middle is 'mira-cul', an unstressed 'u' that sounds like a vague schwa but is anchored to the Latin noun, not the 'cle' ending people sometimes expect.

How the word is built

• miracul- (from Latin miraculum: a wonder, a marvel)
• -ous (adjective suffix: full of, characterised by)