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
Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 26 Apr. 2026
Sankofa is located only a few minutes away from Howard University, one of the country’s most prestigious historically Black colleges, which has seen the likes of Thurgood Marshall, Toni Morrison, and Roberta Flack among many other legendary names pass through its corridors.
—Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 Apr. 2026
An Oakland County city has taken home a prestigious national award for Best Main Street.
—Alysia Burgio, CBS News, 24 Apr. 2026
This year, the prestigious funder began requiring its researchers to publish their work first as a preprint, which will be used to evaluate their requests for future funding.
—Anil Oza, STAT, 24 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for prestigious
Cite this Entry
“Prestigious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prestigious. Accessed 28 Apr. 2026.
Copy Citation
