1
as in unique
being the one or ones of a class with no other members
the President claimed that international terrorism was a special threat that required a special way of dealing with it
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in loved
granted special treatment or attention
one student who was treated as special by the teacher
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in specific
of a particular or exact sort
you'll need special permission from the fire department to do that
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 special
Here’s what to know about this special phenomenon.
—
Chantelle Lee, Time, 4 Nov. 2025
Three years later, in 2018, the IPCC published a special report that modeled pathways to meeting the target.
—Sophie Yeo, The Dial, 4 Nov. 2025
For the special, official royal engagement, Queen Letizia turned to one of her dresses from 2019.
—Julia Teti, Footwear News, 4 Nov. 2025
Chewy Bocce's Bakery pet 12-Day Advent Calendar Make the holidays extra special for your pup with this 12-day Advent calendar.
—Jessica Moore, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for special
Chantelle Lee, Time, 4 Nov. 2025
Three years later, in 2018, the IPCC published a special report that modeled pathways to meeting the target.
—Sophie Yeo, The Dial, 4 Nov. 2025
For the special, official royal engagement, Queen Letizia turned to one of her dresses from 2019.
—Julia Teti, Footwear News, 4 Nov. 2025
Chewy Bocce's Bakery pet 12-Day Advent Calendar Make the holidays extra special for your pup with this 12-day Advent calendar.
—Jessica Moore, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for special
Recent Examples of Synonyms for special
Adjective
-
Across his decades-long career, filmmaker Malik Hassan Sayeed has sat for only a handful of feature interviews, which is unrepresentative of both his unique ability to communicate and his openness to sharing stories from his life.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
4 Nov. 2025
-
However, designing electrical systems for aircraft poses unique challenges.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
The birthday girl got all the attention, while the couple also got to enjoy sharing their special day with loved ones in a new way.—
Angela Andaloro,
PEOPLE,
30 Oct. 2025
-
Attack People with narcissism often transition into the attack phase next, pummeling the character and credibility of their loved one.—
Angela Haupt,
Time,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The work, led by Professor Zijian Li, confirms that the synergistic effect of K+ and C3N4 co-intercalation significantly reduces the electrostatic interaction between Zn2+ and the [VOn] layer, improves the specific capacity and cycling stability.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
6 Nov. 2025
-
Get specific prompts to optimize emails, memos and presentations for tone, context and audience.—
Renée Onque,
CNBC,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
The documentary eschews traditional narrative structure in favor of Indigenous oral storytelling traditions, organizing its content into seven chapters with character archetypes rather than following a singular protagonist.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
4 Nov. 2025
-
Here, high-concept plot elements that might otherwise be lurid emerge as part of the film's own, singular vision.—
Dennis Perkins,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
To what end should the precious removal capacity be deployed?—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Nov. 2025
-
The site features crosses of increasing sizes with a cruciform pit containing precious ritual artifacts at its center.—
Katie Hunt,
CNN Money,
5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
His legacy is alive and well in the nightclubs of Recife, the capital city, where couples dance to forró’s distinctive ringing of triangles and humming zabumba drum until the early hours.—
Carolina Abbott Galvão,
Travel + Leisure,
5 Nov. 2025
-
With 18 patterns in dinner, dessert, and mini sizes, these plates make your holiday table distinctive, sans the post-feast cleanup marathon.—
Lauren Bengtson,
Better Homes & Gardens,
5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
There are love letters to the dead in Lasky’s life interwoven into these essays, including to her father (a judge who died, slowly, from Alzheimer’s), her artist mother, her dog Lucy, beloved poet friends, Mayer herself.—
Diana Arterian,
Literary Hub,
6 Nov. 2025
-
The set was comprised of songs from across the beloved group’s discography, including The Bends (1995), OK Computer (1997), Kid A (2000), Amnesiac (2001), Hail to the Thief (2003), In Rainbows (2007), The King of Limbs (2011) and A Moon Shaped Pool (2016).—
Andrew Flanagan,
Variety,
5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Drinkwater didn't make one appearance in a Chelsea shirt last season, whilst Bakayoko spent the season in Italy on loan at AC Milan.—
SI.com,
SI.com,
3 Aug. 2019
-
Decisions made by engineers today, in other words, will determine not how one car drives but how all cars drive.—
Johannes Himmelreich,
BostonGlobe.com,
30 Mar. 2018
Cite this Entry
“Special.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/special. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share