incomparable

English

Etymology

From Middle French incomparable, from Old French, from Latin incomparabilis

Pronunciation

Adjective

incomparable (comparative more incomparable, superlative most incomparable)

  1. So much better than another as to be beyond comparison; matchless or unsurpassed.
    • c. 1905, Oscar Wilde, De Profundis, (1909), Robert Baldwin Ross, ed., page 112:
      I know of nothing in all drama more incomparable from the point of view of art, nothing more suggestive in its subtlety of observation, than Shakespeare's drawing of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
  2. (rare) Not able to be compared.

Usage notes

  • Using more or most with incomparable, though often disapproved, is relatively common. Such uses may once have only been accepted for poetic effect, but are now widespread.
  • Despite its apparently absolute meaning, incomparable is often used as if there were degrees of incomparability, occurring with adverbs such as so and very.

Derived terms

Translations


French

Etymology

in- + comparable

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɛ̃.kɔ̃.pa.ʁabl/

Adjective

incomparable (plural incomparables)

  1. incomparable; uncomparable

Derived terms

Further reading


Spanish

Adjective

incomparable (plural incomparables)

  1. uncomparable
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