paragon

noun par·a·gon \ ˈper-ə-ˌgän , -gən , ˈpa-rə- \

Updated on: 18 Apr 2018

Definition of paragon

: a model of excellence or perfection

was a paragon of goodness

a paragon of a wife

See paragon defined for English-language learners

See paragon defined for kids

paragon was our Word of the Day on 11/30/2015. Hear the podcast!

Examples of paragon in a Sentence

in Arthurian legend, Sir Galahad is depicted as the one knight who is a paragon of virtue

Recent Examples of paragon from the Web

Frank Body is the paragon of all things exfoliation.

— macaela mackenzie, Allure, "Frank Body Just Released a Mess-Free Version of Its Wildly Popular Coffee Scrub," 10 Apr. 2018
But how does that square with CNN'S new promo that casts the network as a paragon of journalistic credibility?

— Fox News, "Trump takes steps to make good on border security promise," 7 Apr. 2018
The punk paragon made a touching tribute to her late husband, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, earlier this year, on what would have been his 51st birthday.

— stephen daw, Billboard, "First Look: See Courtney Love Sashay Her Way to the Judges Panel on 'RuPaul's Drag Race'," 2 Apr. 2018
There’s a peculiar debate regarding where, exactly, the paragon of newspaper comedies takes place: Chicago, New York City or a Hollywood hybrid of the two?

— michael phillips, chicagotribune.com, "Does 'His Girl Friday' truly belong to Chicago?," 8 Mar. 2018
The Ramblers are less of a parable and more of a paragon for the beauty of college basketball.

— christopher l. gasper, BostonGlobe.com, "Sister Jean makes Final Four a blessed event," 31 Mar. 2018
Within the past year, paragons of success like Prince Harry, Emma Stone, Kristen Bell, Demi Lovato, Jennifer Aniston, and Kerry Washington have opened up about their time in therapy.

— ryan howes, SELF, "Why It's a Huge Deal When Male Athletes Like Kevin Love Talk About Therapy," 27 Mar. 2018
The 47-member council includes such paragons of political freedom as China and Cuba.

— the editorial board, WSJ, "The U.N. Hates Israel," 25 Mar. 2018
There’s chart action right now for songs that exalt women as paragons of virtue.

— dan deluca, Philly.com, "Is 'Woke Country' a thing? Is there a #MeToo moment happening in country music?," 22 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'paragon.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of paragon

Middle French, from Old Italian paragone, literally, touchstone, from paragonare to test on a touchstone, from Greek parakonan to sharpen, from para- + akonē whetstone, from akē point; akin to Greek akmē point — more at edge

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1548

See Words from the same year