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)rəbəl/, /ɪŋkəmˈpɛrəbəl/

Adjective

incomparable (comparative more incomparable, superlative most incomparable)

1. So much better than another as to be beyond comparison; matchless or unsurpassed.
   • c. 1905, Oscar Wilde, De Profundis, (1909), Robert Baldwin Ross, ed., 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.

2. (rare) Not able to be compared.

Usage notes

• Using more or most with incomparable, though often disapproved, is relatively common. Such uses may once have only been accepted for poetic effect, but are now widespread.
• Despite its apparently absolute meaning, incomparable is often used as if there were degrees of incomparability, occurring with adverbs such as so and very.

Derived terms

• incomparability
• incomparably

 

Related terms

• comparable
• uncomparable

 

Translations

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
• 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)

not able to be compared — see uncomparable

Noun

incomparable (plural incomparables)

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

Further reading

• incomparable at 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 Google Ngram Viewer

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin incomparābilis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /iŋ.kom.pəˈɾa.blə/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /iŋ.kum.pəˈɾa.blə/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /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, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “incomparable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
• “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, 2008-2016, 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 (plural incomparables)

1. uncomparable

   Antonym: comparable

Derived terms

• incomparablemente

 

Further reading

• “incomparable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014