incomparable

English

Etymology

From Middle English incomparable, from Middle French incomparable, from Old French [Term?], from Latin incomparābilis. Equivalent to in- +‎ comparable.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪŋˈkɒmp(ə)rəbəl/, /ɪŋkəmˈpærəbəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪŋˈkɑmp(ə)ɹəbəl/, /ɪŋkəmˈpɛɹəbəl/

Adjective

incomparable (comparative more incomparable, superlative most incomparable)

1. Not comparable.

   Synonyms: noncomparable, uncomparable

   Antonym: comparable

2. So much better than another as to be beyond comparison.

   Synonyms: matchless, unsurpassed

   • c. 1905, Oscar Wilde, edited by Robert Baldwin Ross, De Profundis, published 1909, page 112:

     I know of nothing in all drama more incomparable from the point of view of art, nothing more suggestive in its subtlety of observation, than Shakespeare's drawing of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

Usage notes

• Despite its apparently absolute meaning, incomparable is often used as if there were degrees of incomparability, occurring with adverbs such as so and very or the determiner most.

Derived terms

• incomparability
• incomparableness
• incomparably

Translations

not comparable

• Catalan: incomparable (ca)
• Galician: incomparable (gl), incomparábel (gl)
• German: inkomparabel (de)
• Hindi: अतुलनीय (hi) m (atulnīya)
• Latin: incomparābilis
• Portuguese: incomparável (pt) m or f
• Romanian: necomparabil (ro) m or n, incomparabil (ro) m or n
• Spanish: incomparable (es)

beyond comparison

• Armenian: անհամեմատելի (hy) (anhamemateli)
• Azerbaijani: misilsiz, bənzərsiz
• Belarusian: непараўна́льны (njeparaŭnálʹny)
• Bulgarian: несравни́м (bg) (nesravním), безподо́бен (bg) (bezpodóben)
• Catalan: incomparable (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 冇得比 (mou⁵ dak¹ bei²)

  Mandarin: 無比的 / 无比的 (zh) (wúbǐ de)

• Czech: nesrovnatelný
• Dutch: onvergelijkbaar (nl)
• Finnish: verraton (fi), vertaansa vailla (adverb)
• French: incomparable (fr)
• German: unvergleichlich
• Greek: ασύγκριτος (el) (asýgkritos)
• Hungarian: összehasonlíthatatlan (hu)
• Irish: dosháraithe
• Italian: incomparabile (it)
• Macedonian: неспоредлив (nesporedliv)
• Occitan: incomparable
• Old English: unwiþmetendlīċ
• Polish: nieporównywalny (pl)
• Portuguese: incomparável (pt)
• Romanian: incomparabil (ro), necomparabil (ro)
• Russian: несравни́мый (ru) (nesravnímyj), несравне́нный (ru) (nesravnénnyj), бесподо́бный (ru) (bespodóbnyj) (unmatched)
• Sanskrit: अतुल्य (sa) (atulya)
• Slovak: neporovnateľný
• Slovene: neprimerljiv
• Spanish: incomparable (es), inigualable (es)
• Tagalog: walang-kahulilip
• Telugu: సాటిలేని (te) (sāṭilēni)
• Ukrainian: незрівня́нний (nezrivnjánnyj)

See also

• priceless

Noun

incomparable (plural incomparables)

1. Something beyond compare; a thing with which there is no comparison.

Further reading

• “incomparable”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “incomparable”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “incomparable”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
• “incomparable”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• incomparable, uncomparable, noncomparable at the Google Books Ngram Viewer.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin incomparābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [iŋ.kum.pəˈɾab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [iŋ.kom.pəˈɾab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [iŋ.kom.paˈɾa.ble]

Adjective

incomparable m or f (masculine and feminine plural incomparables)

1. uncomparable, incomparable

   Antonym: comparable

Derived terms

• incomparablement

Further reading

• “incomparable”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], 2007 April
• “incomparable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “incomparable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “incomparable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

From Latin incomparābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.kɔ̃.pa.ʁabl/

Adjective

incomparable (plural incomparables)

1. incomparable; uncomparable

   Antonym: comparable

Derived terms

• incomparablement

Further reading

• “incomparable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin incomparābilis.

Adjective

incomparable m (feminine singular incomparabla, masculine plural incomparables, feminine plural incomparablas)

1. uncomparable, incomparable

   Antonym: comparable

Further reading

• Joan de Cantalausa (2006) Diccionari general occitan a partir dels parlars lengadocians‎^[1], 2 edition, →ISBN, page 560.
• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana, L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2024, page 338.

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin incomparābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inkompaˈɾable/ [ĩŋ.kõm.paˈɾa.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: in‧com‧pa‧ra‧ble

Adjective

incomparable m or f (masculine and feminine plural incomparables)

1. uncomparable

   Antonym: comparable

Derived terms

• incomparablemente

Further reading

• “incomparable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10