unique
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Being the only one of its kind.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
yooneekSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
juˈnik
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
not comparable
Being the only one of its kind; unequaled, unparalleled or unmatched.
Of a feature, such that only one holder has it.
proscribed
Of a rare quality, unusual.
Particular, characteristic.
noun
A thing without a like; something unequalled or unparallelled; one of a kind.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (not comparable) Being the only one of its kind; unequaled, unparalleled or unmatched.
Used this way, unique is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It carries warmth, so it reads as personal rather than detached.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Kind and considerate
- Usage feel
- Warm and expressive
Nearby words
- unequalled , used mainly in Regional English
- unequaled , used mainly in Regional English
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Feature
Particular
Other combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
The quality of being one of a kind.
So as to be unique.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: being the only one of its kind
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.