Word of the Day: March 29, 2023

immaculate

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adjective | ih-MAK-yuh-lut

What It Means

Immaculate means "spotlessly clean" or "without flaw or error." In botany and zoology, the word describes beings that have no colored spots or marks.

// Despite the constant demands of school and fatherhood, Javier kept an immaculate home, tidying up whenever the opportunity arose.

// Even a minor scandal has the power to tarnish an otherwise immaculate reputation.



Examples

"The cleanse on Lunar New Year’s Eve is one of many customs—really, superstitions—taught to me by my late mother and father. It’s part of a larger idea that everything should be immaculate, including the body and the home, which should also be tidied and, most importantly, swept out. This is done to lay a perfect groundwork for the coming year: spotless and unblemished by past trouble." — Lan Samantha Chang, Vogue, 20 Jan. 2023


Did You Know?

You may already use the word immaculate flawlessly, but most of us have a spottier history with its antonymous counterpart, , which means "marked with spots" or "impure." Both words can be traced back to , a Latin noun (plural maculae or maculas) 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 appears occasionally, especially as an antithesis to immaculate. The pair is used, for example, by Clive James in a 2019 column in Prospect Magazine, in reference to Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey: “… the story sweeps along in immaculate iambic pentameter. In only one small aspect is the immaculateness maculate.”


Larger Vocabulary = More $$

Not enough people realize that it is our ability to use our language that will determine our place on the social pyramid–and that will also control, to a great extent, the amount of money we will earn during our lives. Research has shown over and over that a person’s vocabulary level is the best single predictor of occupational success (more info). Ready to reach the top? Subscribe and receive a new word daily via TXT!


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Facts & Statistics

"A person may dress in the latest fashion and present a very attractive appearance. So far, so good. But the minute he opens his mouth and begins to speak, he proclaims to the world his level on our social pyramid...Our use of our language is the one thing we can't hide."

Earl Nightingale (one of the greatest self-improvement authors of all time) conducted of a 20-year study of college graduates. "Without a single exception, those who had scored highest on the vocabulary test given in college, were in the top income group, while those who had scored the lowest were in the bottom income group."

Another study by scientist Johnson O'Connor, who gave vocabulary tests to executive and supervisory personnel in 39 large manufacturing companies:

Presidents and VPs

236 out of 272

Managers averaged

168 out of a 272

Superintendents averaged

140 out of 272

Foremen averaged

114 out of 272

Floor bosses averaged

86 out of 272

In virtually every case, vocabulary correlated with executive level and income.

In a "Reader's Digest" article titled "Words Can Work Wonders for You", author Blake Clark told a fascinating story of a salesman in his 50s who scored in the bottom 5% of a standardized vocabulary test. He worked himself into the top 45% and became a vice president of the company.

You can reach the top! We may not all be brilliant enough to be the top in our fields, but we can certainly be in the top 5%–including you.

"Let's face it, from the earliest times, the favored class of people has always been the educated class. They can make themselves recognized instantly, anywhere, by the simple expedient of speaking a few words. Our language, more than anything else, determines the extent of our knowledge.

Step out, and make something more of yourself!