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Many English words ultimately trace back to the Latin forms gener- or genus (which are variously translated as “birth,” “race,” “kind,” and “class”). Offspring of those roots include general, generate, generous, generic, and gender. But sui generis is truly a one-of-a-kind genus descendant that English speakers have used to describe singular things since the late 1600s. Its earliest uses were in scientific contexts, but where it once mostly characterized substances, principles, diseases, and even rocks thought to be the only representative of their class or group, its use expanded by the early 1900s, and it is now used more generally for anything that stands alone.
Examples of sui generis in a Sentence
Rob Crossan, Condé Nast Traveler, 24 Mar. 2026
Lisa McGee broke through with a sui generis comedy that mined aspects of her own experience to find authentic humor in a harrowing situation.
—Judy Berman, Time, 27 Feb. 2026
Together, multi-instrumentalists Marc Riordan and Jon Leland craft a sui generis anachronism, hellbent on lovingly refracting the century-old sound through a contemporary prism.
—Aly Eleanor, Pitchfork, 19 Feb. 2026
Her writing plays according to very strong internal rules—the aesthetic is really regulated and, in many ways, sui generis.
—The New Yorker, New Yorker, 18 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sui generis
Cite this Entry
“Sui generis.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sui%20generis. Accessed 27 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
sui generis
adjective
National Law JournalLatin, of its own kind
