Question

immaculate adjective 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, on the wings of insects, and on 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. We find the pair, for example, in an article by Peter Schjeldahl in an April 2004 issue of The New Yorker: "Rob's apartment, with its immaculate ranks of album spines and its all too maculate strewing of everything else…." 1 : having no stain or blemish : pure2 : containing no flaw or error3 a : spotlessly cleanb : having no colored spots or marks

Accepted Answer

September 2, 2015 ih-MAK-yuh-lut Even a minor scandal has the power to tarnish an immaculate reputation.   "After showing me the different levels and rooms to choose from, and showing me the process by which the pods are fully cleaned after each use (the entire place was absolutely immaculate), David gestured towards a door behind the reception desk: 'Now one last very important part: the restroom!'" -Lindsay Robertson, Gothamist (gothamist.com), 28 July 2015

Word	immaculate
Date	September 2, 2015
Type	adjective
Syllables	ih-MAK-yuh-lut
Etymology	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, on the wings of insects, and on 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. We find the pair, for example, in an article by Peter Schjeldahl in an April 2004 issue of The New Yorker: "Rob's apartment, with its immaculate ranks of album spines and its all too maculate strewing of everything else…."
Examples	Even a minor scandal has the power to tarnish an immaculate reputation. "After showing me the different levels and rooms to choose from, and showing me the process by which the pods are fully cleaned after each use (the entire place was absolutely immaculate), David gestured towards a door behind the reception desk: 'Now one last very important part: the restroom!'" -Lindsay Robertson, Gothamist (gothamist.com), 28 July 2015
Definition	1 : having no stain or blemish : pure 2 : containing no flaw or error 3 a : spotlessly clean b : having no colored spots or marks

Immaculate Word Spots Maculate Showing September Adjective Ih Mak Yuh Lut