Make Your Point: IMMACULATE

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pronounce IMMACULATE:

ih MACK you lut

connect this word to others:

Something immaculate is neat, clean, flawless, spotless, stainless, unsullied, im____able ("free from sin, free from faults").

Can you recall that last one?

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

The word "immaculate" traces back to the Latin macula ("a stain, a spot, a blemish"), and so something immaculate is literally "stain-free, spot-free, blemish-free."

We first used it in English to mean "pure, without sin," and we applied it to people like the Virgin Mary from the Bible, who was considered perfectly free from sin from the moment she was born.

These days, we use "immaculate" in a less religious way to describe things and places that are absolutely perfect, with no spots, no flaws, and no errors.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "His white robes were immaculate (Patrick Rothfuss)."

Other forms:

The adverb is "immaculately," as in "His robes were immaculately white."

For a noun, you can pick between "immaculateness" and my preference, "immaculacy."

And the exact opposite is "maculate," which we don't use often today. As you'd expect, it means "imperfect, spotted, flawed, error-riddled."

how to use it:

Pick the common, serious word "immaculate" when you want to make something (or someone) sound holy as you describe how it's absolutely perfect, free from dust, spots, stains, messes, blemishes, or mistakes of any kind.

We very often talk about people's immaculate clothes, hair, and makeup. And if we say a person is immaculate, that usually means they're dressed and styled immaculately: neatly and sharply, with no flaws.

We also talk about immaculate skies, surfaces, lawns, rooms, areas, and homes, or about immaculate handwriting or works of art.

And to get figurative, we talk about immaculate plans, speech, techniques, records, reputations, credit reports, and memories.

examples:

"The chancellery still looked immaculate. I didn't know how they did it. It was brilliant white in a city filled with dust and gray smoke."
— Alan Gratz, Projekt 1065: A Novel of World War II, 2016

"The writing is superb and the musicianship is immaculate."
— Jamieson Cox, The Verge, 25 February 2016

has this page helped you understand "immaculate"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "immaculate" without saying "pristine" or "perfect."

try it out:

Imagine you can pick one room in your home or workspace that, by some sort of magic, will always stay immaculate.

Which room would you choose, and why? How would the immaculacy of the space ease your stress or add to your joy?

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is Slide Into The Title: Elton John Edition!

Have you noticed how pop songs tend to use rhyme, rhythm, and semantics to guide you straight into singing the correct title, even if you’ve never heard it before? I love that, how the title clicks into place. See if you can slide into a complete title, given a snippet of lyrics.

You can check out some examples here.

Try this one today:

"So keep your auditions for somebody
Who hasn't got so much to lose.
'Cause you can tell by the lines I'm reciting
That I've seen that _____, ___."

To see the answer, scroll all the way down.

review this word:

1. Although the exact opposite of IMMACULATE is MACULATE, some pretty close opposites of IMMACULATE include

A. SHIFTING and INTRICATE.
B. TAINTED and IMPERFECT.
C. ENORMOUS and POWERFUL.

2. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, we see an "immaculate" Gilderoy Lockhart, _____

A. "hovering around... making suggestions."
B. "winking cheekily up" from the cover of a book.
C. "his golden hair shining under a perfectly positioned turquoise hat with gold trimming."

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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