What does miraculous mean?
Word: Miraculous
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Miraculous means so wonderful or surprising that it seems like a miracle.
Synonyms: amazing, astonishing, wondrous, incredible
Antonyms: ordinary, normal, everyday
Word origin: Comes from French miraculeux or medieval Latin miraculosus, from Latin miraculum, 'object of wonder'.
How do you spell miraculous?
Syllables: mi - rac - u - lous
Tricky part: Miracle does not keep its cle: those letters turn into cul, so there is no e after the l.
Watch out for: miracleous, miracalous
Memory tip: Spectacle becomes spectacular in the same way: the noun's cle turns into cul.
Miraculous in a sentence
Example 1: The kitten's miraculous escape from the well made the evening news.
Example 2: Grandpa called the sudden blooming of the dry old mango tree miraculous.
Example 3: The rain came at a miraculous moment, just as the crops were drying up.
Fun Fact
Latin miraculum comes from mirari, to wonder at, which also gave English the word mirror, something you gaze into.
Practise the CREST Way
Jumble Tumble
Which option has letters that you can rearrange to form a word describing something wonderful and surprising?
a) CUSLUUMOIR
b) IMSCUULARO
c) UMOTRAISUC
d) IMRULUOCIS
Show answer
b) IMSCUULARO. Check the vowels: the right set has two u's and one each of a, i and o; the others have an extra u, an extra i or a t.
Word Champ
Choose the correct word for the blank:
The team's ________ comeback from six goals down amazed everyone in the stadium.
a) merciless
b) malicious
c) miraculous
d) monotonous
Show answer
c) miraculous. Merciless means without pity, malicious means meant to hurt and monotonous means dull; an amazing comeback is miraculous.
Spellacadabra
Choose the correct option to make a meaningful word:
miracul____
a) ous
b) ious
c) us
d) eous
Show answer
a) ous. The adjective ending here is a plain ous, with no i or e before it.
Word Tally
How many words are misspelt in the given sentence?
The magician pulled off a miraculous trick with a single coin, and the whole audiance gasped.
a) 3
b) 2
c) 0
d) 1
Show answer
d) 1. Audience is spelt with ie and ence; miraculous and every other word are correct.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which event might reporters call miraculous?
a) a train arriving right on time
b) a dog barking late at night
c) a ring found in the sea years later
d) a shop opening its doors at nine
Show answer
c) a ring found in the sea years later
2. A miraculous recovery is one that ____.
a) surprises even the doctors
b) takes exactly one week
c) happens to everyone
d) costs a great deal
Show answer
a) surprises even the doctors
