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EXCEPTIONAL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Surpassing what is common or usual or expected
Example:
what's so special about the year 2000?
Synonyms:
especial; exceptional; particular; special
Classified under:
Similar:
uncommon (not common or ordinarily encountered; unusually great in amount or remarkable in character or kind)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Deviating widely from a norm of physical or mental ability; used especially of children below normal in intelligence
Example:
special educational provisions for exceptional children
Classified under:
Similar:
abnormal (departing from the normal in e.g. intelligence and development)
Domain category:
psychological science; psychology (the science of mental life)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Far beyond what is usual in magnitude or degree
Example:
the young Mozart's prodigious talents
Synonyms:
exceeding; exceptional; olympian; prodigious; surpassing
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
extraordinary (beyond what is ordinary or usual; highly unusual or exceptional or remarkable)
Derivation:
exception (an instance that does not conform to a rule or generalization)
Context examples:
I must not think too much of this, or I may be tempted; a good cause might turn the scale with me, for may not I too be of an exceptional brain, congenitally?
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
I may even say exceptional features of interest.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
In spite of their cunning philosophy and of their antlike proclivities for cooperation, Nature rejected them for the exceptional man.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Using Hubble's exceptional resolution, his team is counting the number of globular star clusters in the galaxy's halo — a vast shell of faint stars surrounding the galaxy.
(Hubble Surveys Gigantic Galaxy, NASA)
“All very well, Roger Harcomb,” cried a burly, bull-necked young man, whose square shoulders and massive limbs told of exceptional personal strength.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The research examined the history of an exceptional fossil site located at Ya Ha Tinda Ranch in Canada's Banff National Park.
(Fossils may need air to form, National Science Foundation)
"It's truly an exceptional day. … The 18th dynasty private tombs were already known. But it's the first time to enter inside the two tombs," Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani said.
(Discovery of Two Tombs Dating Back 3,500 Years Announced in Egypt, VOA)
Malignant potential is exceptional.
(Peritoneal Multicystic Mesothelioma, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)
Until very recently, researchers in the modern era found no evidence of a lymphatic system in the brain, leaving some puzzled about how the brain drains waste, and others to conclude that brain is an exceptional organ.
(NIH researchers uncover drain pipes in our brains, National Institutes of Health)
This will be a magical month for your career, for Mars, your ruler, will join Pluto, Saturn, and Jupiter to bring you exceptional news and the opportunity to move ahead.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
