singular
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.
the singular number.
a form in the singular.
Origin of singular
1Other words for singular
Opposites for singular
Other words from singular
- sin·gu·lar·ly, adverb
- sin·gu·lar·ness, noun
- su·per·sin·gu·lar, adjective
- un·sin·gu·lar, adjective
- un·sin·gu·lar·ly, adverb
- un·sin·gu·lar·ness, noun
Words that may be confused with singular
- single, singular
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use singular in a sentence
With great technology, collaboration and a commitment to address the underlying cultural conditions and the ivory trade that leads to most elephant deaths, there’s a real chance to save these singular creatures.
Can artificial intelligence give elephants a winning edge? | Walter Thompson | November 20, 2020 | TechCrunchHe is the only person to be an active participant in each of the Celtics’ 17 World Championships, an extraordinary and singular legacy.
Tommy Heinsohn, a Celtics institution for more than a half-century, dies at 86 | Matt Bonesteel | November 10, 2020 | Washington PostIn many ways, “The Life Ahead” brings Loren’s career full circle, once again casting her in a story animated by De Sica’s singular brand of humanism and compassion.
With ‘The Life Ahead,’ Sophia Loren is approaching her 100th movie. She’s going for much more. | Ann Hornaday | November 5, 2020 | Washington PostThese past years, OnePlus has been my singular focus, and everything else has had to take a backseat.
OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei confirms he has left the company | Manish Singh | October 16, 2020 | TechCrunch“How do we take a singular voice and make it a voice of every man and woman,” Forbes asked herself and her collaborators.
Three Former Howard Students Are Taking ‘Between The World And Me’ From The Bookshelf To HBO | cmurray | October 9, 2020 | Essence.com
Today that singularly revered profession is actually many jobs rolled into one.
Renaissance Man Jared Leto Defies Categorization | The Daily Beast | December 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe first photos from the far side of the Moon are singularly unimpressive to modern eyes.
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 | THE DAILY BEASTNew York Times Book critic Eliot Fremont-Smith agreed in his review, calling Barbie, “singularly offensive.”
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 | THE DAILY BEASTNicknames among this class of poor whites in the South seem singularly like those in vogue in New England.
Ramona | Helen Hunt JacksonHe saw that Marius had disappeared, and that mademoiselle had risen and was regarding him with singularly imploring eyes.
St. Martin's Summer | Rafael SabatiniSingularly courteous and obliging on all occasions, I, personally, have been much indebted to him for help and advice.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland | Joseph TatlowHer voice was singularly sweet and full, and Mr. Mason said to himself, "She'll be a singer some day, if she is not crazy first."
The Cromptons | Mary J. Holmes"You are singularly concerned in this man's life," said he, an odious undercurrent of meaning in his voice.
St. Martin's Summer | Rafael Sabatini
British Dictionary definitions for singular
/ (ˈsɪŋɡjʊlə) /
remarkable; exceptional; extraordinary: a singular feat
unusual; odd: a 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
grammar
the singular number
a singular form of a word
Origin of singular
1Derived forms of singular
- singularly, adverb
- singularness, noun
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 singular
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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