Wonder-working
adj.hopeful, kindliterary
What it means
Producing remarkable, beneficial, or seemingly marvelous results.
Reach for it when describing a person, force, or act believed to produce extraordinary results
The story celebrates a wonder-working healer who serves remote villages.
Choose between these
5- everyday
strong admiration is meant without causation
not when Marvelous praises rather than explains results.
- warm
restoration of health or wholeness is central
not when Healing is narrower and should not promise a cure.
- warm
the result appears beyond natural expectation
not when Miraculous makes a religious or supernatural claim.
- professional
deep durable change is the actual effect
not when Transformation can be negative.
- formal
substantial influence or effect is demonstrable
not when Power can harm as well as help.
Said against
3- ineffectual
- harmful
- ordinary
It naturally appears in
3- wonder-working power
The hymn celebrates wonder-working power in language of its period.
- wonder-working healer
Stories portrayed the traveling healer as wonder-working.
- wonder-working remedy
Advertisements falsely presented the tonic as a wonder-working remedy.
Usage notes
Wonder-working often carries religious or archaic force; for health products it can become a misleading efficacy claim.