Delphic oracle
Ancient Greek seer
The Delphic oracle was the ancient Greek priestess at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, believed to channel prophecies from the god.
Her pronouncements were famously ambiguous—open to multiple interpretations that could seem correct regardless of outcome.
Today, Delphic describes any utterance that is cryptic or deliberately vague: His answer was positively Delphic.
- priestessFemale religious officiant
- divine madnessTranscendent creative ecstasy
- templeSacred worship structure
- manticOf or relating to divination
- CroesusByword for extreme wealth
divination · sibyl · cave · cryptic · prophecy · ambiguity · hidden meaning · riddles · tripod · laurel · enigma · chasm · pneuma · ritual · eternal flame · Mount Parnassus · ancient Greece · classical antiquity
Delphic oracleplain speech
Unembellished verbal expression
plain English · transparency · candor · forthrightness · straight talk
Delphic oraclescientific method
Structured process for investigation
empirical evidence · statistical analysis · fact-checker · evidence-based reasoning · controlled experiment