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extraordinary

[ik-strawr-dn-er-ee, ek-struh-awr-]
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adjective
  1. beyond what is usual, ordinary, regular, or established: extraordinary costs.
  2. exceptional in character, amount, extent, degree, etc.; noteworthy; remarkable: extraordinary speed; an extraordinary man.
  3. (of an official, employee, etc.) outside of or additional to the ordinary staff; having a special, often temporary task or responsibility: minister extraordinary and plenipotentiary.
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Origin of extraordinary

1425–75; late Middle English extraordinarie < Latin extrāordinārius beyond what is ordinary. See extra-, ordinary
Related formsex·traor·di·nar·i·ly [ik-strawr-dn-air-uh-lee, ek-struh-awr-] /ɪkˌstrɔr dnˈɛər ə li, ˌɛk strəˌɔr-/, adverbex·traor·di·nar·i·ness, nounun·ex·traor·di·nar·y, adjective

Synonyms

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1. inordinate. 2. uncommon, singular, rare, phenomenal, special, signal.

Antonyms

1, 2. common, usual.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

fantasticremarkableoutstandingunheard-ofmarvelouscuriousbizarreoddspecialunusualincrediblephenomenalsingularterrificamazingstrangeunprecedentedunimaginableexceptionaluncommon

Examples from the Web for extraordinary

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • I regard her as, on the whole, the most extraordinary person of her race I have ever met.

  • This was the most extraordinary person with whom he had ever talked.

  • No reason is given for this extraordinary contempt of living.

  • Possibly because of the extraordinary directions which beauty culture may take.

  • More than this, there is about sorrow an intense, an extraordinary reality.

    De Profundis

    Oscar Wilde

British Dictionary definitions for extraordinary

extraordinary

adjective
  1. very unusual, remarkable, or surprising
  2. not in an established manner, course, or order
  3. employed for particular events or purposes
  4. (usually postpositive) (of an official, etc) additional or subordinate to the usual onea minister extraordinary
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Derived Formsextraordinarily, adverbextraordinariness, noun

Word Origin

C15: from Latin extraordinārius beyond what is usual; see ordinary
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for extraordinary

adj.

early 15c., from Latin extraordinarius "out of the common order," from extra ordinem "out of order," especially the usual order, from extra "out" (see extra-) + ordinem (nominative ordo) "order" (see order). Related: Extraordinarily.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper