immaculate: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for August 2 is:

immaculate \ih-MAK-yuh-lut\ adjective
1 : having no stain or blemish : pure
2 : containing no flaw or error
3 *a : spotlessly clean b : having no colored spots or marks

Example sentence:
The Rileys expected to find that their teenagers had wreaked havoc in the house while they were gone, but they found the place immaculate and tidy.

Did you know?
The opposite of "immaculate" is "maculate," which means "marked with spots" or "impure." The Latin word "maculatus," the past participle of a verb meaning "to stain," is the source of both words and can be traced back to "macula," a word that scientists still use for spots on the skin, the wings of insects, and the surface of celestial objects. "Maculate" has not marked as many pages as "immaculate," but it has appeared occasionally (one might say "spottily"), especially as an antithesis to "immaculate." For example, in _The New Republic_, May 25, 1998, Victor Hugo's _Les Miserables_ is described as being "about the struggle of a mistreated man as he rises to the top, along with a mortal conflict between this maculate virtuous man and an immaculate pursuing demon."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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