prestigious
adjective
-ˈstē-
Did you know?
You might expect, based on how adjectives are often formed in English, that today’s word is an extension of the noun prestige. However, although both words share the same Latin root, they entered English by different routes and at different times. Moreover, both adjective and noun once had more to do with trickery than respect when they were first used. Prestigious came directly from the Latin adjective praestigiosis, meaning “full of tricks” or “deceitful,” and had a similar meaning upon entering English in the mid-16th century. Praestigiosis in turn came from the plural noun praestigiae, meaning “conjurer’s tricks.” This noun also gave English the word prestige, though it first passed through French and arrived a century after prestigious. Though it wasn’t first on the block, prestige influenced prestigious in a different way, by eventually developing an extended sense of “standing or esteem.” That change spurred a similar development in prestigious, which now means simply “illustrious or esteemed.”
Examples of prestigious in a Sentence
Michelle F. Solomon, Miami Herald, 17 Apr. 2025
International students – including at prestigious American universities – have been targeted amid the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown.
—Caroll Alvarado, CNN Money, 17 Apr. 2025
President Trump has long celebrated his familial ties to MIT, a prestigious college that has spared no criticism of the administration's policies in recent weeks.
—Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 17 Apr. 2025
In 2023, Andoni Luis Aduriz was honored with the Icon Award from this same prestigious list for his contribution and inspiration to global gastronomy.
—Claudia Alarcón, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for prestigious
Cite this Entry
“Prestigious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prestigious. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
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