Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of, relating to, or being an oracle.
- adjective Resembling or characteristic of an oracle.
- adjective Solemnly prophetic.
- adjective Enigmatic; obscure.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Of, pertaining to, or of the nature of an oracle or oracles.
- Wise as an oracle; expressing opinions with the mysteriousness or dogmatism of an oracle.
- Of or pertaining to one possessing the power of delivering oracular or divine messages; possessing the power of uttering oracles: as, an oracular tongue.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Of or pertaining to an oracle; uttering oracles; forecasting the future.
- adjective Resembling an oracle in some way, as in solemnity, wisdom, authority, obscurity, ambiguity, dogmatism.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Of or relating to an
oracle . - adjective
Prophetic ,foretelling the future. - adjective
Ambiguous , hard tointerpret .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective of or relating to an oracle
- adjective obscurely prophetic
- adjective resembling an oracle in obscurity of thought
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Moses, and we find that here two stations are omitted (Nu 33: 1-56). according to the commandment of the Lord, &c. -- not given in oracular response, nor a vision of the night, but indicated by the movement of the cloudy pillar.
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In a style that might best be described as oracular doom-collage, Mr. Trow cautioned that if we let it, TV would rob us of every human dignity.
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No one, perhaps, who has ever read _Little Dorrit_, whatever else in the novel may slip the memory, fails to recall the oracular utterance of
Dickens-Land E. W. Haslehust 1907
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Now and then we had formal conversazioni, and at these I soon took a prominent part, though the inquiring spirit strongly predominated over the oracular, which is likely to monopolize such assemblies.
The Autobiography of a Journalist Stillman, William James, 1828-1901 1901
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Now and then we had formal _conversazioni_, and at these I soon took a prominent part, though the inquiring spirit strongly predominated over the oracular, which is likely to monopolize such assemblies.
The Autobiography of a Journalist, Volume I William James Stillman 1864
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We have been accustomed to call the oracular sayings of men like Thales,
Chips From A German Workshop, Vol. V. Miscellaneous Later Essays 1861
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In my reading of this essay, Paglia does not really want a poem to be a verbal object but instead some kind of oracular pronouncement, a pronouncement in which "art" really has little if any role.
Poetry 2010
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Like Edmundson, he continued to believe that the right kind of teaching (teaching that wasn't "oracular") could change lives, and when it came to his own writing, he turned his fictional double, Buddy Glass, into a writer who teaches college with great devotion.
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Because the authors knew that this would go down like a lead balloon with the fans, the importance of these 'notes' and 'outlines' had been inflated many times until they became some kind of oracular vision, Frank Herbert guiding their writing hands from beyond the grave.
The Winds of Dune...or should that be hot air? Adam Whitehead 2009
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Random generation is a cornerstone of old school gaming, as is the acceptance of the "oracular" power of dice.
Fight On! Review in Brief James Maliszewski 2008
seanahan commented on the word oracular
This is a fabulous sounding word.
November 20, 2007