Meanings
- Wonderfully, amazingly; remarkable to relate.
Nantucket is a pretty upmarket place. Mirabile dictu, this is one place in the US where not a McDonald's or Burger King is to be seen.
1994 July 6, Rupert Cornwell, “Out of America: Piping plover gives an island resort the bird”, in The Independent, retrieved 23 Feb 20142 more examples
And then, mirabile dictu, between the piers, leaping from wave to wave as it rushed at headlong speed, swept the strange schooner before the blast, with all sail set, and gained the safety of the harbour.
1897, Bram Stoker, chapter 7, in DraculaThe Democratic-dominated Council recently tightened the rules governing campaign contributions by lobbyists but managed, mirabile dictu, to exempt Democratic-dominated unions from the new restrictions.
2007 September 4, Clyde Haberman, “A Labor Day Labor Forgot to Celebrate”, in The New York Times, retrieved 23 Feb 2014
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Latinmīrābile dictū
- Englishmirabile dictu
Borrowed from Latin mīrābile dictū (literally “able to astonish by the saying [of it]”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Icelandic þótt undarlegt megi virðast
- þótt undarlegt megi virðastwonderfully, amazingly
Latin mīrābile dictū
- mīrābile dictūwonderfully, amazingly
Polish mirabile dictu
- mirabile dictuwonderfully, amazingly
Cite this entry
mirabile dictu. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mirabile%20dictu
“mirabile dictu.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mirabile%20dictu. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mirabile dictu,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mirabile%20dictu.
Source: mirabile dictu on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.