extraordinary

See also: extra-ordinary and extraördinary

English

Alternative forms

extra-ordinary
extraördinary (rare)

Etymology

From Latin extrāōrdinārius, from extrā ōrdinem (“outside the order”); equivalent to extra- +‎ ordinary. Doublet of extraordinaire.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ɪksˈtɹɔː(ɹ)dɪnəɹi/, /ɪksˈtɹɔː(ɹ)dɪnɹi/, /ˌɛkstɹəˈɔː(ɹ)dɪnəɹi/, /ˌɛkstɹəˈɔː(ɹ)dɪnɹi/
Audio (US) (file)
(Hong Kong) IPA^(key): /ɪks.tɹaː.ˈɔː.dɪn.nə.ɹiː/
Hyphenation: ex‧tra(‧)or‧di‧na‧ry

Adjective

extraordinary (comparative more extraordinary, superlative most extraordinary)

Not ordinary; exceptional; unusual.
- 1921, G. B. Shaw, Back to Methuselah:
  Everybody knew I was an extraordinary person. When I was born my beard was three feet long.
- 1978, Spanish Constitution of 1978:
  The Houses may meet in extraordinary sessions at the request of the Government, of the Permanent Deputation or of the overall majority of members of either of the two Houses. Extraordinary sessions must be convened with a specific agenda and shall be adjourned once this has been dealt with.
- 2011 October 23, Tom Fordyce, “2011 Rugby World Cup final: New Zealand 8-7 France”, in BBC Sport:
  Tony Woodcock's early try and a penalty from fourth-choice fly-half Stephen Donald were enough to see the All Blacks home in an extraordinary match that defied all pre-match predictions.
- 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:
  From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. […] But viewed from high up in one of the growing number of skyscrapers in Sri Lanka’s capital, it is clear that something extraordinary is happening: China is creating a shipping hub just 200 miles from India’s southern tip.
Remarkably good.
an extraordinary poet
Special or supernumerary.
the physician extraordinary in a royal household
an extraordinary professor in a German university

Synonyms

exceptional
unparalleled
noteworthy
outstanding

Antonyms

everyday, normal, ordinary, regular, usual

Derived terms

article of extraordinary value
extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence
Extraordinary Form
extraordinary general meeting
extraordinary optical transmission
extraordinary professor
extraordinary rendition
go to extraordinary lengths

Translations

not ordinary

Afrikaans: buitengewoon
Albanian: i jashtëzakonshëm
Arabic: اِسْتِثْنَائِيّ‎ (istiṯnāʾiyy), غَيْرُ عَادِيّ‎ (ḡayru ʿādiyy)
Armenian: արտասովոր (artasovor)
Asturian: estraordinariu
Azerbaijani: fövqəladə
Basque: apartekoak
Belarusian: незвыча́йны (njezvyčájny), надзвыча́йны (nadzvyčájny), экстраардына́рны (ekstraardynárny)
Bengali: অলৌকিক (bn) (ôloukik)
Breton: dreistordinal (br)
Bulgarian: необикновен (bg) (neobiknoven)
Burmese: ထူးခြားသော (htu:hkra:sau:)
Catalan: extraordinari (ca), descomunal
Central Huishui Hmong: txawv tshaj plaw
Chinese:
Cantonese: 偉大 (wai⁵ daai⁶)
Hakka: 偉大, 伟大 (ví-thai)
Mandarin: 非凡 (zh) (fēifán), 了不起 (zh) (liǎobuqǐ), 出眾／出众 (zh) (chūzhòng)
Corsican: straordinariu
Czech: neobyčejný (cs), mimořádný (cs) (of session)
Danish: ekstraordinær
Dutch: buitengewoon (nl)
Esperanto: eksterordinara
Estonian: erakordne
Finnish: erikoinen (fi), kummallinen (fi), epätavallinen (fi)
French: extraordinaire (fr)
Galician: extraordinario
German: außerordentlich (de), außergewöhnlich (de)
Greek: ασυνήθιστος (el) (asyníthistos), αναπάντεχος (el) (anapántechos)
Ancient: ἐξαίσιος (exaísios)
Gujarati: અસાધારણ (asādhāraṇ)
Haitian Creole: ekstraòdinè
Hindi: असाधारण (hi) (asādhāraṇ)
Hungarian: rendkívüli (hu)
Indonesian: luar biasa
Irish: urghnách
Italian: straordinario (it) m, straordinaria (it) f, eccezionale (it), fantastico (it), impareggiabile (it), ineguagliabile (it), fuori dal comune
Japanese: 並外れた (ja) (namihazureta), 非凡な (ja) (hibon na)
Javanese: srengenge katon padhang
Korean: 특별한 (teukbyeolhan)
Ladin: straurdener
Lao: ຊຸມສະໄຫມວິ (sum sa haim wi)
Latin: extraordinarius, insolitus, eximus (la)
Latvian: ārkārtas
Lithuanian: nepaprastas
Luxembourgish: ausseruerdentlech
Macedonian: вонредна (vonredna)
Malay: luar biasa (ms)
Maltese: straordinarja
Maori: autaia, whakaharahara, haraki, korokē
Nepali: असाधारण (ne) (asādhāraṇ)
Norman: extraordinnaithe
Norwegian:
Bokmål: ekstraordinær
Nynorsk: ekstraordinær
Occitan: extraordinari (oc)
Persian: please add this translation if you can
Polish: niezwykły (pl), nadzwyczajny (pl)
Portuguese: extraordinário (pt), extraordinária
Punjabi: ਅਸਧਾਰਨ (pa) (asadhāran)
Romanian: extraordinar (ro), ieșit din comun m or n, neobișnuit (ro) m or n
Russian: необы́чный (ru) (neobýčnyj), необыча́йный (ru) (neobyčájnyj), экстраордина́рный (ru) (ekstraordinárnyj), чрезвычайный (ru) (črezvyčajnyj)
Scots: byordinar
Serbo-Croatian: izvanredno (sh)
Sinhalese: අත්යසාමාන්ය ය (atyasāmānya ya)
Slovak: neobyčajný, mimoriadny
Slovene: izredna
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: wósebny
Spanish: extraordinario (es), descomunal (es)
Sundanese: anu rongkah
Swedish: extraordinär (sv), utomordentlig (sv)
Tagalog: pambihira
Tajik: ғайринавбатии (ġayrinavbatiyi)
Tamil: அசாதாரண (acātāraṇa)
Thai: วิสามัญ (th) (wis̄āmạỵ)
Turkish: fevkalade (tr), olağanüstü (tr), harikulade (tr)
Ukrainian: незвича́йний (nezvyčájnyj), надзвича́йний (nadzvyčájnyj), екстраордина́рний (ekstraordynárnyj)
Vietnamese: phi thường (vi)
West Frisian: bûtengewoan
Yiddish: ויסערגעוויינלעך‎ (oysergeveynlekh)

Noun

extraordinary (plural extraordinaries)

Anything that goes beyond what is ordinary.
- 1787, The New Annual Register
  […] the sum that will probably be wanted for each head of service during the year: it is divided into the ordinary, and the extraordinaries.