Miracle Meaning
/ˈmɪɹ.ə.kəl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn event that appears inexplicable by the laws of nature and so is held to be supernatural in origin.
nounA fortunate outcome that prevails despite overwhelming odds against it.
Sentence Examples
It's nothing short of a miracle.
He won't be able to escape from there without a miracle, will he?
The miracle of rising from the grave
CEFR Practice Quiz
The sudden recovery of the patient was considered a ____ by everyone.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It was a true ____ that no one was seriously injured in the major freeway accident despite several cars being completely destroyed.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English miracle, from Old French miracle, from Latin mīrāculum (“object of wonder”), from mīror (“to wonder at”), from mīrus (“wonderful”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meyh₂- (“to smile, to be astonished”). Doublet of milagro and miraculum. Partially displaced native wonder, from Old English wundor (“miracle, wonder”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"That’s fantastic! And he’s right, it is a miracle! E-Except when you think about it, it’s actually not, it’s science, which I’d argue is actually better and more convenient than a miracle because you don’t have to spend the next 2000 years worshipping the scientists, you can just be like, “thanks!”"
— 2018 July 1, “Gene Editing”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 5, episode 18, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:
"Secondly, it was a miracle that a document hammered out with such difficulty, satisfying very few of its authors completely and satisfying some of them very little, would turn out to be the most successful political invention in history."
— 1966 November 25, “A Great Document Made by Wisdom and Luck”, in Life, volume 61, number 22, page 13:
"It was a miracle that I survived that ditching in the high waves because I had my seat belt and shoulder harness unbuckled in anticipation of bailing out."
— 1993, Hatch N. Gardner, Frank H. Winter, P-51 Mustang, Turner Publishing Company, page 78:
"Seen in this light it was a miracle of economic history that Europe was able to undertake so much higher a proportion of its expansion overseas, and secure a massive injection of resources and big markets without a commensurate growth in her numbers."
— 2003, Eric Lionel Jones, The European miracle: environments, economies, and geopolitics in the history of Europe and Asia, Cambridge University Press, page 218:
"The home of our kings, over which you tread as you pace the immense hall known as the Salle des Pas-Perdus, was a miracle of architecture."
— 1847, Honoré de Balzac, Scenes from a Courtesan's Life, page 323:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The sudden recovery of the patient was considered a ____ by everyone.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It was a true ____ that no one was seriously injured in the major freeway accident despite several cars being completely destroyed.