oracle

American  

[awr-uh-kuhl, or-] / ˈɔr ə kəl, ˈɒr- /

noun

oracles plural

1. (especially in ancient Greece) an utterance, often ambiguous or obscure, given by a priest or priestess at a shrine as the response of a god to an inquiry.

2. the agency or medium giving such responses.

3. a shrine or place at which such responses were given.

   the oracle of Apollo at Delphi.

4. a person who delivers authoritative, wise, or highly regarded and influential pronouncements.

5. a divine communication or revelation.

6. any person or thing serving as an agency of divine communication.

7. any utterance made or received as authoritative, extremely wise, or infallible.

8. oracles, the Scriptures.

9. the holy of holies of the Biblical Temple built by Solomon in Jerusalem.

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oracle British  

/ ˈɒrəkəl /

noun

1. a prophecy, often obscure or allegorical, revealed through the medium of a priest or priestess at the shrine of a god

2. a shrine at which an oracular god is consulted

3. an agency through which a prophecy is transmitted

4. any person or thing believed to indicate future action with infallible authority

5. a statement believed to be infallible and authoritative

6. Bible

   1. a message from God

   2. the holy of holies in the Israelite temple

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• oracles
  plural

Etymology

Origin of oracle

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin ōrāculum, equivalent to ōrā(re) “to plead” + -culum diminutive noun suffix; see oration, -cle ²

Explanation

Back in ancient times, an oracle was someone who offered advice or a prophecy thought to have come directly from a divine source. In modern usage, any good source of information can be called an oracle. In his Apology, Plato claims that the oracle at Delphi played a vital role in the career of the philosopher Socrates, and a Delphic prophecy sets the tragedy of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex in motion. The word oracle can also be used to describe the utterances of a seer or anyone else who is pretty darn good at predicting the future.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

oracle oracles

Yet if Flanner was no oracle, she was also no fascist.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 19, 2026

Such questions call for an oracle, a big thinker, a visionary.

From Slate ● Dec. 9, 2025

It doesn’t take an oracle to see there just might be an opportunity in Oracle.

From Barron's ● Dec. 5, 2025

Days later, the Dalai Lama fled the palace, a decision he said was based on divine orders from his personal oracle.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2025

“We have also consulted the oracle stones about the invitation, and they called for Taisin, your classmate, to accompany the prince.”

From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo

Messrs. Schmidt and Gates may think they can allay the fear and despair they’ve helped to inspire by issuing a few oracles on the unwisdom of catastrophism.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026

It just seems as though through habit, habituation, comfort-sleepwalking, or myopia, we are so narrowly focused on this small tranche of cases and still treat the justices as oracles.

From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2024

Sanjayan has long been concerned that a certain uniformity in style among the oracles of climate change has kept their message from breaking through in a maximally effective way.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 21, 2021

The Greeks thus offered sacrifices to keep the gods appeased, and sought out oracles for hints of what the future held, but did not normally pursue a deeply spiritual connection with their deities.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2020

The gods had to be propitiated, and a vast industry of priests and oracles arose to make the gods less angry.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan