oracular

English

WOTD – 28 October 2009

Etymology

From Middle French oraculaire.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɒɹˈæk.juː.lə/, /ɔːˈɹæk.juː.lə/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ɔˈɹæk.ju.lɚ/, /ɔˈɹæk.jə.lɚ/

Adjective

oracular

1. Of or relating to an oracle.
   • 1810, Walter Scott, “(please specify the canto number or page)”, in The Lady of the Lake; […], Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for John Ballantyne and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and William Miller, →OCLC, (please specify the stanza number):

     In some of the Hebrides they attributed the same oracular power to a large black stone by the sea-shore, which they approached with certain solemnities, and considered the first fancy which came into their own minds, after they did so, to be the undoubted dictate of the tutelar deity of the stone, and, as such, to be, if possible, punctually complied with.

   • 2006, Lisa Hill, The Passionate Society: the social, political and moral thought of Adam Ferguson‎^[1]:

     Ferguson's sin consisted in his oracular 'unmasking' of a 'second-rate sort of society, full of second rate citizens, pursuing comparatively worthless objects.'

2. Prophetic, foretelling the future.
   • 1819 (date written), Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Masque of Anarchy. A Poem. […], London: Edward Moxon […], published 1832, →OCLC:

     And that slaughter to the Nation / Shall steam up like inspiration, / Eloquent, oracular; / A volcano heard afar.

   • 1963, “Chapter 26”, in Joseph Hitrec, transl., Bosnian Chronicle, New York: Arcade, translation of original by Ivo Andrić, published 1993, page 402:

     It was one of those dire oracular pronouncements that Marko made from time to time, which were afterwards spread from mouth to mouth among the Serbs.

3. Wise, authoritative.
   • 1844 January–December, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq. [The Luck of Barry Lyndon.]”, in Miscellanies: Prose and Verse, volume III, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1856, →OCLC:

     My Lord Chatham, whose wisdom his party in those days used to call superhuman, raised his oracular voice in the House of Peers against the American contest;

   • 2025 June 18, Matteo Wong, quoting Sam Altman, “The Entire Internet Is Reverting to Beta”, in The Atlantic‎^[2]:

     If this is the AI age, then we’re living in broken times. Nevertheless, Sam Altman has called ChatGPT an “oracular system that can sort of do anything within reason” and last week proclaimed that OpenAI has “built systems that are smarter than people in many ways.”

4. Ambiguous, hard to interpret.
   • 1754, Horace Walpole, letter to John Chute:

     Nothing offended me but that lisping Miss Haughton, whose every speech is inarticulately oracular.

   • 1895, Andrew Dickson White, History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom:

     This utterance was admirably oracular, being susceptible of cogent quotation by both sides […]

Derived terms

• oracularity
• oracularly
• oracularness

Related terms

• oracle

Translations

of or relating to an oracle

• Dutch: orakelachtig (nl)
• Finnish: oraakkelimainen (fi)
• French: oraculaire (fr)
• German: orakelhaft, orakelmäßig
• Greek: μαντικός (el) m (mantikós)
• Portuguese: oracular

prophetic, foretelling the future

• Armenian: մարգարեական (hy) (margareakan)
• Bulgarian: пророчески (bg) (proročeski)
• Dutch: profetisch (nl)
• Finnish: oraakkelimainen (fi)
• German: orakelhaft, orakelmäßig
• Greek: προφητικός (el) m (profitikós)

  Ancient: χρηστήριος (khrēstḗrios)

• Portuguese: oracular
• Russian: пророческий (ru) (proročeskij), ве́щий (ru) (véščij)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: zwěšćelowarski

ambiguous, hard to interpret

• Armenian: առեղծվածային (hy) (aṙeġcvacayin), հանելուկային (hy) (hanelukayin)
• Bulgarian: двусмислен (bg) (dvusmislen)
• Dutch: raadselachtig (nl)
• Finnish: oraakkelimainen (fi)
• Greek: αμφίσημος (el) m (amfísimos), αινιγματικός (el) m (ainigmatikós)
• Russian: зага́дочный (ru) (zagádočnyj), двусмы́сленный (ru) (dvusmýslennyj)

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /o.ɾa.kuˈlaʁ/ [o.ɾa.kuˈlah]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /o.ɾa.kuˈlaʁ/ [o.ɾa.kuˈlah]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /o.ɾa.kuˈlaɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /o.ɾa.kuˈlaʁ/ [o.ɾa.kuˈlaχ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /o.ɾa.kuˈlaɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔ.ɾɐ.kuˈlaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔ.ɾɐ.kuˈlaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔ.ɾɐ.kuˈla.ɾi/

Adjective

oracular m or f (plural oraculares)

1. (mysticism) oracular (of or relating to an oracle)
2. oracular (prophetic; foretelling the future)

Romanian

Etymology

From oracul +‎ -ar.

Adjective

oracular m or n (feminine singular oraculară, masculine plural oraculari, feminine/neuter plural oraculare)

1. oracular

Declension

Declension of oracular

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	oracular		oraculară		oraculari	oraculare
	definite	oracularul		oraculara		oracularii	oracularele
genitive- dative	indefinite	oracular		oraculare		oraculari	oraculare
	definite	oracularului		oracularei		oracularilor	oracularelor

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oɾakuˈlaɾ/ [o.ɾa.kuˈlaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: o‧ra‧cu‧lar

Adjective

oracular m or f (masculine and feminine plural oraculares)

1. oracular

Further reading

• “oracular”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024