Standard Lemma guide

extraordinary

adj · noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ɪksˈtɹɔːrdɪn(ə)ɹi/
  • UK: /ˌɛkstɹəˈɔːɹdɪn(ə)ɹi/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Hong-Kong: /ɪks.tɹɑːˈɔː.dɪn.nə.ɹiː/
  • CMU ARPABET: EH2 K S T R AH0 AO1 R D AH0 N EH2 R IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: IH0 K S T R AO1 R D AH0 N EH2 R IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Out of the ordinary; exceptional; unusual.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Except in extraordinary circumstances, [...]

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Remarkably good.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • an extraordinary poet

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Special or supernumerary.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • the physician extraordinary in a royal household
  • an extraordinary professor in a German university

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Anything that goes beyond what is ordinary.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective

Meaning 5

beyond what is ordinary or usual; highly unusual or exceptional or remarkable

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • extraordinary authority
  • an extraordinary achievement
  • her extraordinary beauty
  • enjoyed extraordinary popularity
  • an extraordinary capacity for work
  • an extraordinary session of the legislature

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: ordinary

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

far more than usual or expected

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an extraordinary desire for approval
  • it was an over-the-top experience

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: over-the-top, sinful

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Latin extrāōrdinārius, from extrā ōrdinem (“outside the order”). By surface analysis, extra- + ordinary. Doublet of extraordinaire.

Across languages

Translations

123 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: buitengewoon — not ordinary
  • Albanian: i jashtëzakonshëm — not ordinary
  • Arabic: اِسْتِثْنَائِيّ (istiṯnāʔiyy) — not ordinary
  • Arabic: غَيْرُ عَادِيّ (ḡayru ʕādiyy) — not ordinary
  • Armenian: արտասովոր (artasovor) — not ordinary
  • Asturian: estraordinariu — not ordinary
  • Azerbaijani: fövqəladə — not ordinary
  • Basque: apartekoak — not ordinary
  • Belarusian: незвыча́йны (njezvyčájny) — not ordinary
  • Belarusian: надзвыча́йны (nadzvyčájny) — not ordinary
  • Belarusian: экстраардына́рны (ekstraardynárny) — not ordinary
  • Bengali: অলৌকিক (olōukik) — not ordinary
  • Breton: dreistordinal — not ordinary
  • Bulgarian: необикновен (neobiknoven) — not ordinary
  • Burmese: ထူးခြားသော (htu:hkra:sau:) — not ordinary
  • Catalan: extraordinari — not ordinary
  • Catalan: descomunal — not ordinary
  • Chinese Cantonese: 偉大 /伟大 (wai5 daai6) — not ordinary
  • Hakka Chinese: 偉大 /伟大 (ví-thai) — not ordinary
  • Chinese Mandarin: 非凡 (fēifán) — not ordinary
  • Chinese Mandarin: 了不起 (liǎobuqǐ) — not ordinary
  • Chinese Mandarin: 出眾 /出众 (chūzhòng) — not ordinary
  • Corsican: straordinariu — not ordinary
  • Czech: neobyčejný — not ordinary
  • Czech: mimořádný — not ordinary
  • Danish: ekstraordinær — not ordinary
  • Dutch: buitengewoon — not ordinary
  • Esperanto: eksterordinara — not ordinary
  • Estonian: erakordne — not ordinary
  • Finnish: erikoinen — not ordinary
  • Finnish: kummallinen — not ordinary
  • Finnish: epätavallinen — not ordinary
  • French: extraordinaire — not ordinary
  • West-Frisian: bûtengewoan — not ordinary
  • Galician: extraordinario — not ordinary
  • German: außerordentlich — not ordinary
  • German: außergewöhnlich — not ordinary
  • Greek: ασυνήθιστος (asyníthistos) — not ordinary
  • Greek: αναπάντεχος (anapántechos) — not ordinary
  • Greek: εξαίρετος (exaíretos) — not ordinary
  • Greek: αξιοθαύμαστος (axiothávmastos) — not ordinary
  • Greek: αξεπέραστος (axepérastos) — not ordinary
  • Greek: εξαιρετικός (exairetikós) — not ordinary
  • Ancient Greek: ἐξαίσιος (exaísios) — not ordinary
  • Gujarati: અસાધારણ (asādhāraṇ) — not ordinary
  • Haitian Creole: ekstraòdinè — not ordinary
  • Hindi: असाधारण (asādhāraṇ) — not ordinary
  • Hindi: अकल्पनीय (akalpanīya) — not ordinary
  • Central Huishui Hmong: txawv tshaj plaw — not ordinary
  • Hungarian: rendkívüli — not ordinary
  • Indonesian: luar biasa — not ordinary
  • Irish: urghnách — not ordinary
  • Italian: straordinario — not ordinary
  • Italian: straordinaria — not ordinary
  • Italian: eccezionale — not ordinary
  • Italian: fantastico — not ordinary
  • Italian: impareggiabile — not ordinary
  • Italian: ineguagliabile — not ordinary
  • Italian: fuori dal comune — not ordinary
  • Japanese: 並外れた (namihazureta) — not ordinary
  • Japanese: 非凡な (hibon na) — not ordinary
  • Javanese: srengenge katon padhang — not ordinary
  • Korean: 특별한 (teukbyeolhan) — not ordinary
  • Ladin: straurdener — not ordinary
  • Lao: ຊຸມສະໄຫມວິ (sum sa haim wi) — not ordinary
  • Latin: extraordinarius — not ordinary
  • Latin: insolitus — not ordinary
  • Latin: eximus — not ordinary
  • Latvian: ārkārtas — not ordinary
  • Lithuanian: nepaprastas — not ordinary
  • Luxembourgish: ausseruerdentlech — not ordinary
  • Macedonian: вонредна (vonredna) — not ordinary
  • Malay: luar biasa — not ordinary
  • Maltese: straordinarja — not ordinary
  • Māori: autaia — not ordinary
  • Māori: whakaharahara — not ordinary
  • Māori: haraki — not ordinary
  • Māori: korokē — not ordinary
  • Nepali: असाधारण (asādhāraṇ) — not ordinary
  • Norman: extraordinnaithe — not ordinary
  • Norwegian Bokmål: ekstraordinær — not ordinary
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: ekstraordinær — not ordinary
  • Occitan: extraordinari — not ordinary
  • Persian: فوق العاده — not ordinary
  • Polish: niezwykły — not ordinary
  • Polish: nadzwyczajny — not ordinary
  • Portuguese: extraordinário — not ordinary
  • Portuguese: extraordinária — not ordinary
  • Punjabi: ਅਸਧਾਰਨ (asadhāran) — not ordinary
  • Romanian: extraordinar — not ordinary
  • Romanian: ieșit din comun — not ordinary
  • Romanian: neobișnuit — not ordinary
  • Russian: необы́чный (neobýčnyj) — not ordinary
  • Russian: необыча́йный (neobyčájnyj) — not ordinary
  • Russian: экстраордина́рный (ekstraordinárnyj) — not ordinary
  • Russian: чрезвычайный (črezvyčajnyj) — not ordinary
  • Scots: byordinar — not ordinary
  • Serbo-Croatian: izvanredno — not ordinary
  • Sinhalese: අත්යසාමාන්ය ය (atyasāmānya ya) — not ordinary
  • Slovak: neobyčajný — not ordinary
  • Slovak: mimoriadny — not ordinary
  • Slovene: izredna — not ordinary
  • Lower Sorbian: wósebny — not ordinary
  • Spanish: extraordinario — not ordinary
  • Spanish: descomunal — not ordinary
  • Spanish: macanudo — not ordinary
  • Spanish: de aúpa — not ordinary
  • Sundanese: anu rongkah — not ordinary
  • Swedish: extraordinär — not ordinary
  • Swedish: utomordentlig — not ordinary
  • Tagalog: pambihira — not ordinary
  • Tajik: ғайринавбатии (ġayrinavbati-yi) — not ordinary
  • Tamil: அசாதாரண (acātāraṇa) — not ordinary
  • Thai: วิสามัญ (wis̄āmạỵ) — not ordinary
  • Turkish: fevkalade — not ordinary
  • Turkish: olağanüstü — not ordinary
  • Turkish: harikulade — not ordinary
  • Ukrainian: незвича́йний (nezvyčájnyj) — not ordinary
  • Ukrainian: надзвича́йний (nadzvyčájnyj) — not ordinary
  • Ukrainian: екстраордина́рний (ekstraordynárnyj) — not ordinary
  • Vietnamese: phi thường — not ordinary
  • Yiddish: ויסערגעוויינלעך (oysergeveynlekh) — not ordinary
  • Spanish: pulenta — remarkably good
Real reading context

extraordinary in complete knowledge articles