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extraordinary

adjective

ik-ˈstrȯr-də-ˌner-ē How to pronounce extraordinary (audio)
Definition of extraordinarynext
1
as in unusual
being out of the ordinary the marine is being cited for extraordinary courage

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in uncommon
noticeably different from what is generally found or experienced no one noticed anything extraordinary about the airline passenger

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of extraordinary For a woman who stopped her formal education after two years of high school, this was extraordinary. — Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2026 After an extraordinary 26 years at Disney, including as one of the early architects of FX, Eric has decided this is the right moment to pursue that next chapter. — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 17 Sep. 2026 This investment gives us the resources to bring active play to millions more families around the world, and Jeff and Bing bring extraordinary experience building enduring gaming and technology companies. — Jennifer Maas, Variety, 17 Sep. 2026 Courtesy of the artist ©Myriam Boulos©Myriam Boulos There is such an extraordinary wealth of talent across the region. — Photovogue, Vogue, 17 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for extraordinary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extraordinary
  1. unusual
  2. uncommon
  3. exceptional
  4. strange
  5. unique
  6. funny
  7. rare
  8. weird
Adjective
  • The move is unusual due to the more than six-month-long conflict between Iran and the United States and no sign that agreements to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or return to talks on Iran's nuclear program are close.
    — September 18, CBS News, 18 Sep. 2026
  • The team also needed to confirm that the unusual structures were genuine electron behavior rather than artifacts created by the microscope.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of unusual
Adjective
  • Other uncommon marine animals have wandered into California waters this year.
    — Fedor Zarkhin, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Daytime activity is not uncommon and does not necessarily indicate rabies.
    — Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of uncommon
Adjective
  • Engineered around Qualcomm’s flagship 12-core Snapdragon X Elite processor, this Surface laptop delivers exceptional processing speed with whisper-quiet thermal efficiency.
    — Juhi Wadia, PC Magazine, 6 Sep. 2026
  • That golden brown exterior tasted exceptional, but eating it came with some hurdles.
    — Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of exceptional
Adjective
  • In a small town, several dead people are brought back to life through a strange ritual involving burning duck manure.
    — Katherine Brodsky, Variety, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Back outside, the strangest part of the scene might have been how normal everything seemed to the people wearing crimson and blue.
    — Taylor Eldridge, Kansas City Star, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of strange
Adjective
  • Major European partners are on board as well, including Xilam, pushing French high-end, unique animation series beyond its borders.
    — Kevin Giraud, Variety, 8 Sep. 2026
  • The comedic play, which is set at a silent retreat, has the unique convention of having the majority of its characters barely speak, and rather rely on their physicality.
    — Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of unique
Adjective
  • On paper, the script didn’t seem that funny, and the looseness of it all — the clowning, the lack of a traditional plot structure — seemed kind of slapdash.
    — Victor Garber, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2026
  • The play touches on issues of male bonding, family, reentering the dating pool, loss, grief and despair, while being very funny almost all the time.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of funny
Adjective
  • At low volume, failures are rare enough that the stakes are low.
    — Shivansh Inamdar, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2026
  • But in a rare moment, the bosses of Anthropic, OpenAI and xAI have come together to support the view that the development of AI models should slow down amid growing fears over the technology's capacity to cause harm.
    — Leonie Kidd, CNBC, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of rare
Adjective
  • The resulting film is somehow weirder, wondrous, and more wistful than what even that logline suggests.
    — Zachary Lee, IndieWire, 16 Sep. 2026
  • The kind of weird minutiae that only nerds pull out of old archives.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of weird

Browse Nearby Words

extraordinariness
extraordinary
extrapolate
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Cite this Entry

“Extraordinary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extraordinary. Accessed 21 Sep. 2026.

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