extraordinaire
English
Etymology
Borrowed from French extraordinaire.
Pronunciation
Adjective
extraordinaire (not comparable)
- (postpositive) Extraordinary, remarkable, outstanding.
- (postpositive) (of a person) Particularly skilled; unusually active; particularly successful.
- He was a dancer extraordinaire.
- Charlie Parker, saxophonist extraordinaire, released many records.
Usage notes
- When used after a plural noun, the adjective is occasionally pluralized as extraordinaires like in French, so that (for example) both dancers extraordinaire and dancers extraordinaires can be found.
Noun
extraordinaire (uncountable)
- Something particularly remarkable or outstanding.
- 2012, Lonely Planet, Nicola Williams, Kerry Christiani, Lonely Planet Switzerland
- "The very best of Swiss dining in this essentially rural country is as much about experience as culinary extraordinaire."
- 2012, Lonely Planet, Nicola Williams, Kerry Christiani, Lonely Planet Switzerland
French
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin extraordinārius.
Pronunciation
Adjective
extraordinaire (plural extraordinaires)
- extraordinary, out of the ordinary
- Antonym: ordinaire
Further reading
- “extraordinaire”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Categories:
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- English uncountable nouns
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- French terms borrowed from Latin
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- French 5-syllable words
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