adj · noun · 15 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.
Received-Pronunciation:/nɒnpəˈɹeɪ(l)/
Received-Pronunciation:/nɒm-/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈnɒnpəɹ(ə)l/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈnɒnpɹ(ə)l/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈnɒm-/
Received-Pronunciation:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˌnɑnpəˈɹɛl/
rhymes with -eɪ
rhymes with -eɪl
rhymes with -ɛl
1
adj
Meaning 1
Unequalled, unrivalled; unique.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: frequently postpositive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Antonyms: average, basic, bog-standard, common, common as bums, common as dirt, common as muck, common as pig tracks, dime a dozen, everyday, frequent, general, habitual, nonrare, par for the course, pedestrian, plain, quotidian, regular, routinary, routine, ten a penny, two a penny, usual, workaday
2
noun
Meaning 2
A person or thing that has no equal; a paragon.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
The blue underwing or Clifden nonpareil (Catocala fraxini), a species of moth distributed across the Palearctic; also (obsolete) any of a number of moths of other species.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: biology, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
In full nonpareil parrot: an eastern rosella, of species Platycercus eximius, a rosella (parrot) native to southeastern Australia.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Australia, archaic, countable, uncountable
Topics: biology, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
A painted bunting (Passerina ciris), a brightly-coloured finch native to North America.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, countable, uncountable
Topics: biology, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
In full nonpareil apple: an apple tasting both sweet and tart which ripens very late in the season; also, the tree producing this fruit.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, countable, uncountable
Topics: biology, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
Any of various types of small sweets.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, archaic, countable, uncountable
Topics: cooking, food, lifestyle
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
noun
Meaning 8
A small pellet of white or coloured sugar used as decoration on baked goods and candy.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, broadly, countable, dated, uncountable
Topics: cooking, food, lifestyle
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: hundreds and thousands, sprinkles
Antonyms: none provided
9
noun
Meaning 9
A small, flat chocolate drop covered with such pellets of sugar, similar to a comfit.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, broadly, countable, uncountable
Topics: cooking, food, lifestyle
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
10
noun
Meaning 10
A caper (“pickled edible flower bud”) of the smallest size.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, broadly, countable, uncountable
Topics: cooking, food, lifestyle
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
11
noun
Meaning 11
A size of type between ruby and emerald (or, in the United States, between agate and minion), standardized as 6-point; (countable) a slug of this size.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical, uncountable
Topics: media, publishing, typography
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: nonpareille
Antonyms: none provided
12
adjective satellite
Meaning 12
eminent beyond or above comparison
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
matchless beauty
the team's nonpareil center fielder
she's one girl in a million
the one and only Muhammad Ali
a peerless scholar
infamy unmatched in the Western world
wrote with unmatchable clarity
unrivaled mastery of her art
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: matchless, one(a), one and only(a), peerless, unmatched, unmatchable, unrivaled, unrivalled
Antonyms: none provided
13
noun
Meaning 13
a flat disk of chocolate covered with beads of colored sugar
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: chocolate candy
14
noun
Meaning 14
colored beads of sugar used as a topping on e.g. candies and cookies
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: sweet, confection
15
noun
Meaning 15
model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Narrower terms: jimdandy, jimhickey, crackerjack, class act, humdinger
History
Etymology
From Late Middle English non-parail (“unparalleled, nonpareil”) [and other forms], from Middle French nonpareille, nonpareil (“unparalleled”) (obsolete), from non- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + pareil (“alike, like, same”). Pareil is derived from Old French pareil, from Late Latin pāriculus (“equal; like; of a number: even”), from Latin pār (“equal; like; of a number: even; suitable”) + -culus (a variant of -ulus (suffix forming diminutives)). Noun sense 4 (size of type standardized at 6-point) is usually taken to derive from the attractive type cut by the brothers Giovanni and Gregorio De Gregori (fl. 1482–1503 and 1496–1527 respectively) for their 1498 edition of the divine offices in Venice; it was for a long time the smallest-sized type in use.
Across languages
Translations
29 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Chinese Mandarin:
無儔 /无俦
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
Czech:
nesrovnatelné
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
Czech:
unikum
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
Finnish:
ylivertainen
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
French:
nonpareil
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
French:
hors de pair
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
French:
sans égal
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
French:
sans pareil
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
German:
unerreicht
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
Italian:
impareggiabile
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
Italian:
ineguagliabile
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
Korean:
비할 데가 없는
(bihal dega eomneun)
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
Portuguese:
incomparável
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
Portuguese:
sem igual
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
Portuguese:
sem par
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
Romanian:
exemplu (neegalabil)
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
Romanian:
model de perfecțiune
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
Russian:
бесподо́бный
(bespodóbnyj)
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
Russian:
несравне́нный
(nesravnénnyj)
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
Spanish:
incomparable
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
Spanish:
sin par
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
Spanish:
sin paralelo
— unequalled, unrivalled — see also unequalled, unique, unrivalled
Czech:
nonparej
— size of type standardized at 6-point; slug of this size
Dutch:
nonparel
— size of type standardized at 6-point; slug of this size
French:
nonpareille
— size of type standardized at 6-point; slug of this size
German:
Nonpareille
— size of type standardized at 6-point; slug of this size
Italian:
nompariglia
— size of type standardized at 6-point; slug of this size
Russian:
нонпарель
(nonparelʹ)
— size of type standardized at 6-point; slug of this size
Spanish:
nompareille
— size of type standardized at 6-point; slug of this size
