Basic Details
Word: Immaculate
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Perfectly clean and tidy; also without any mistake at all, as in an immaculate performance.
Synonyms: spotless, pristine, flawless, perfect
Antonyms: dirty, grubby, untidy
How to Spell Immaculate
Syllables: im - mac - u - late
Tricky part: It has a double m, from the prefix im + maculate, and a single c. The vowels go a, u, a.
Watch out for: imaculate, immacculate, immaculete
Memory tip: Picture an immaculate shirt and spell it in beats: im + mac + u + late. Two m's open the word, and the vowels run a, u, a.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The hospital ward was immaculate, with fresh sheets on every bed.
Example 2: The batsman played an immaculate innings without a single false shot.
Example 3: Grandpa keeps his old scooter in immaculate condition.
Fun Fact
Immaculate comes from Latin in- (not) and macula (spot); doctors still use macula for a small spot on the retina of the eye.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Choose the correct letters to fill in the blanks:
imm_c_late
a) e, u
b) a, a
c) a, u
d) u, u
Show answer
c) a, u. The root is macul, so a follows the double m and u follows c.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word immaculate as used in the sentence:
Her white uniform was immaculate on the first day of school, but by evening it was covered in paint.
a) grubby
b) neat
c) spotless
d) pristine
Show answer
a) grubby. An immaculate uniform is spotlessly clean; grubby describes it after the paint.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the meaning of the only correctly spelt word:
1. acommodate 2. immaculate 3. posession 4. ocassion
a) a special event or time
b) to provide space or a place to stay for
c) something that a person owns
d) perfectly clean and tidy
Show answer
d) perfectly clean and tidy. Accommodate doubles c and m, occasion doubles only c, possession doubles s twice; immaculate is already correct.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. An immaculate performance has ____.
a) no mistakes
b) no music
c) many mistakes
d) no audience
Show answer
a) no mistakes
2. The prefix im in immaculate means ____.
a) again
b) very
c) before
d) not
Show answer
d) not
