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Miraculous vs Preternatural - What's the difference?

miraculous | preternatural | Synonyms |

Miraculous is a synonym of preternatural.


As adjectives the difference between miraculous and preternatural

is that miraculous is pertaining to miracles; referring to something that people can't explain while preternatural is beyond or different from what is natural or according to the regular course of things; strange; inexplicable; extraordinary; abnormal.

miraculous

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Pertaining to miracles; referring to something that people can't explain.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=September 7 , author=Phil McNulty , title=Moldova 0-5 England , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=If Moldova harboured even the slightest hopes of pulling off a comeback that would have bordered on miraculous given their lack of quality, they were snuffed out 13 minutes before the break when Oxlade-Chamberlain picked his way through midfield before releasing Defoe for a finish that should have been dealt with more convincingly by Namasco at his near post.}}
  • By supernatural or uncommon causes, e.g. by a god (only used when positive).

    • Related terms

    * miracle

    preternatural

    English

    (wikipedia preternatural)

    Alternative forms

    * praeternatural * (archaic)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Beyond or different from what is natural or according to the regular course of things; strange; inexplicable; extraordinary; abnormal.
  • * 1882 , , The Red Man and the White Man in North America , p. 152,
    • Doubtless there has been some exaggeration in the picturesque and fanciful relations of the almost preternatural skill and cunning of the Indian, [...]
  • * '>citation
  • (dated) Having an existence outside of the natural world.
  • * 1817 , ",
    • Macbeth is like a record of a preternatural and tragical event.
  • * 1860 , ,
    • Not Leonore, in that preternatural midnight excursion with her phantom lover, was more terrified than poor Maggie in this entirely natural ride on a short-paced donkey, [...]
  • * 1925 , ",
    • Vansittart Smith, fixing his eyes upon the fellow's skin, was conscious of a sudden impression that there was something inhuman and preternatural about its appearance.

    Usage notes

    In modern secular use, refers to extraordinary but still natural phenomena, as in “preternatural' talent”. In religious and occult usage, used similarly to supernatural, meaning “outside of nature”, but usually to a lower level than (term) – it can be used synonymously (identical to supernatural), as a hypernym (a kind of supernatural), or a coordinate term (similar to supernatural, but a distinct category). For example, in Catholic theology, ' preternatural refers to properties of creatures like angels, while (term) refers to properties of God alone.

    Synonyms

    * (beyond or different from usual) abnormal, exceptional, extraordinary, uncanny * (not natural) paranormal, supernatural, unnatural

    Derived terms

    * preternaturally

    References

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