immaculate
adjective
William Sansom
Did you know?
You may already use the word immaculate flawlessly, but most of us have a spottier history with its antonymous counterpart, maculate, which means "marked with spots" or "impure." Both words can be traced back to macula, a Latin noun (plural maculae or maculas) that scientists still use for spots on the skin, on the wings of insects, and on the surface of celestial objects. Maculate has not marked as many pages as immaculate, but it appears occasionally, especially as an antithesis to immaculate. The pair is used, for example, by Clive James in a 2019 column in Prospect Magazine, in reference to Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey: “… the story sweeps along in immaculate iambic pentameter. In only one small aspect is the immaculateness maculate.”
Synonyms
Examples of immaculate in a Sentence
Cynthia Ozick, Atlantic, May 1997
… and added to this was the fact that this Soviet Army Colonel had a service record that was as immaculate as a field of freshly fallen snow …
—Tom Clancy, The Cardinal of the Kremlin, (1988) 1989
I was expecting some giant to emerge, but in came a tiny, immaculate, white-haired man.
—Anna Russell, I'm Not Making This Up, You Know, 1985
She had an immaculate record of service.
somehow managed to keep the white carpet immaculate
Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 24 May 2024
Not allowing a base runner over four innings, Snell threw 46 pitches — plus 15 more in a side session afterward — and struck out seven and while recording an immaculate first inning (three strikeouts on nine pitches).
—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 14 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for immaculate 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'immaculate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Immaculate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/immaculate. Accessed 29 May. 2024.
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immaculate
adjective
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