singular

[ sing-gyuh-ler ]

/ ˈsɪŋ gyə lər /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR singular ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

extraordinary; remarkable; exceptional: a singular success.

unusual or strange; odd; different: singular behavior.

being the only one of its kind; distinctive; unique: a singular example.

separate; individual.

Grammar. noting or pertaining to a member of the category of number found in many languages that indicates that a word form has one referent or denotes one person, place, thing, or instance, as English boy and thing, which are singular nouns, or goes, a singular form of the verb go.Compare dual(def 4), plural(def 4).

Logic.

of or relating to something individual, specific, or not general.
(of a proposition) containing no quantifiers, as “Socrates was mortal.”

Mathematics.

of or relating to a linear transformation from a vector space to itself that is not one-to-one.
of or relating to a matrix having a determinant equal to zero.

Obsolete. private.

Obsolete. single.

noun Grammar.

the singular number.

a form in the singular.

QUIZZES

TAKE THIS QUIZ TO SEE WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL PUNCTUATION!

Commas mark divisions in sentences. Periods end declarative sentences. Apostrophes show possession. Easy, right? Well, punctuation can get pretty tricky—fast. Think you got what it takes to be a punctuation expert? Take our quiz to prove it!

Question 1 of 10

Which of the options below is the best punctuation for the sentence? It__s your turn to pick the movie __ but your sister gets to pick the board game we _ re going to play.

Its your turn to pick the movie but your sister gets to pick the board game we’re going to play.

It’s your turn to pick the movie but your sister gets to pick the board game were going to play.

It’s your turn to pick the movie, but your sister gets to pick the board game we’re going to play.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of singular

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English word from Latin word singulāris. See single, -ar¹

SYNONYMS FOR singular

1–4 peculiar.

2 bizarre, queer, curious.

3 uncommon, rare.

4 single.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR singular ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR singular

1 usual.

SEE ANTONYMS FOR singular ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM singular

sin·gu·lar·ly, adverbsin·gu·lar·ness, nounsu·per·sin·gu·lar, adjectiveun·sin·gu·lar, adjective

un·sin·gu·lar·ly, adverbun·sin·gu·lar·ness, noun

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH singular

single singular

Words nearby singular

singletree, singlish, singly, singsong, singspiel, singular, singular point, singularity, singularize, singulary, singulative

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for singularly

Today that singularly revered profession is actually many jobs rolled into one.
Renaissance Man Jared Leto Defies Categorization|The Daily Beast|December 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The first photos from the far side of the Moon are singularly unimpressive to modern eyes.
The USSR’s Race to the Moon’s Far Side|Matthew R. Francis|October 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This was set aside for the moment, now that a man with a knife had committed something so singularly horrific.
This Brooklyn 6-Year-Old’s Murderer Is Still on the Loose|Michael Daly|June 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
New York Times Book critic Eliot Fremont-Smith agreed in his review, calling Barbie, “singularly offensive.”
Happy Bday Barbie! You're Over|Brandy Zadrozny|March 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Professional sports has a singularly unheroic and uninspiring precedent for treating those with a medical problem.
Can NASCAR Driver Trevor Bayne Race Safely With Multiple Sclerosis?|Kent Sepkowitz|November 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Singularly, the men who most despise women are the ones who seek to have her applause.
The Lincoln Story Book|Henry L. Williams
Descending toward the left, we approach one of the most singularly beautiful groups of stalactites in this apartment.
Bancroft's Tourist's Guide Yosemite|A.L. Bancroft
Dr Pendle admitted again that Mab was a singularly charming young lady, and that his son might do worse than marry her.
The Bishop's Secret|Fergus Hume
He has a singularly pure and fine power of selecting and loving what is best in books.
Joyous Gard|Arthur Christopher Benson
How singularly present apologies for our slavery echo these voices from the Barbary States!
Charles Sumner; his complete works; Volume 2 (of 20)|Charles Sumner

British Dictionary definitions for singularly

singular

/ (ˈsɪŋɡjʊlə) /

adjective

remarkable; exceptional; extraordinarya singular feat

unusual; odda singular character

unique

denoting a word or an inflected form of a word indicating that not more than one referent is being referred to or described

logic of or referring to a specific thing or person as opposed to something general

noun

grammar

the singular number
a singular form of a word

Derived forms of singular

singularly, adverbsingularness, noun

Word Origin for singular

C14: from Latin singulāris single

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

Cultural definitions for singularly

singular

In nouns, pronouns, and verbs, the grammatical form that refers to only one thing. In the following sentence, the singular words are italicized: “The police officer stops anyone who crosses before the light changes.” (Compare plural; see agreement.)

singular

adjective

noun Grammar.

QUIZZES

TAKE THIS QUIZ TO SEE WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL PUNCTUATION!

Origin of singular

SYNONYMS FOR singular

ANTONYMS FOR singular

OTHER WORDS FROM singular

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH singular

Words nearby singular

Words related to singularly

Example sentences from the Web for singularly

British Dictionary definitions for singularly

adjective

noun

Derived forms of singular

Word Origin for singular

Cultural definitions for singularly