Definition of PRESTIGIOUSNESS

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You may be surprised to learn that "prestigious" had more to do with trickery than with respect when it was first used in 1546. The earliest (now archaic) meaning of the word was "of, relating to, or marked by illusion, conjuring, or trickery." "Prestigious" comes to us from the Latin word praestigiosis, meaning "full of tricks" or "deceitful." The words "prestige" and "prestigious" are related, of course, though not as directly as you might think; they share a Latin ancestor, but they entered English by different routes. "Prestige," which was borrowed from French in 1656, initially meant "a conjurer's trick," but in the 19th century it developed an extended sense of "blinding or dazzling influence." That change in turn influenced "prestigious," which now means simply "illustrious or esteemed."

Examples of prestigious in a Sentence

a nutritional study that has been published by a prestigious medical journal the most prestigious social club in town

Recent Examples on the Web Formed in Israel as teenagers at the Jerusalem Academy Middle School of Music and Dance, the Ariel Quartet was named recipient of the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award. — Anchorage Daily News, "This week is jampacked with plays: Matchmakers, murder mysteries and musicals," 6 Feb. 2020 McLaughlin has been a dominant force in the Supercars world, having won each of the last two series titles for DJR Team Penske, along with a race win in the Bathurst 1000, Australia's most prestigious race. — Nathan Brown, Indianapolis Star, "Helio Castroneves out of GMR Grand Prix, Scott McLaughlin to make IndyCar debut for Penske," 5 Feb. 2020 Similarly, Lost Oak Winery in Burleson, which will also be at the tasting, paved the way earlier in 2010 for Texas firsts at the prestigious contest with a double-gold for its viognier, made from grapes grown at Brennan Vineyards near Comanche. — Kim Pierce, Dallas News, "Explore an up-and-coming Texas wine region at special Dallas Farmers Market event," 4 Feb. 2020 A year before his death, Nadim won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi award in 1987. — Manavi Kapur, Quartz India, "Who is the Kashmiri poet Nirmala Sitharaman quoted in her loooooooong budget speech?," 1 Feb. 2020 Still, this film does take place at a prestigious film company operating out of lower Manhattan's TriBeca neighborhood, which is where Weinstein's film company's East Coast office was located. — Sarah Midkiff, refinery29.com, "The Assistant‘s Story Is Actually Far Bigger Than Harvey Weinstein," 30 Jan. 2020 Goldberg went on to score the prestigious EGOT distinction, earning two Emmys, a Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award. — Rachel Yang, EW.com, "Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg's The Color Purple returning to theaters for 35th anniversary," 30 Jan. 2020 The book, which came out in 1962, won the prestigious Ralph Caldecott Medal for the best children’s picture book of the year. — Fortune, "Ahead of its fourth-quarter earnings, Facebook faces costly regulatory pitfalls," 28 Jan. 2020 Alternating chapters are told by his parents, Jonathan and Jane Gordon, who moved to Topeka in the 1970s for a fellowship at the Foundation, a prestigious psychiatric institute. — Elaine Blair, The New York Review of Books, "Learning to Fight," 28 Jan. 2020

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