singular
Americanadjective
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extraordinary; remarkable; exceptional.
a singular success.
- Synonyms:
- peculiar
- Antonyms:
- usual
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unusual or strange; odd; different.
singular behavior.
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being the only one of its kind; distinctive; unique.
a singular example.
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separate; individual.
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Grammar. noting or pertaining to a member of the category of number found in many languages that indicates that a word form has one referent or denotes one person, place, thing, or instance, as English boy and thing, which are singular nouns, or goes, a singular form of the verb go.
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Logic.
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of or relating to something individual, specific, or not general.
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(of a proposition) containing no quantifiers, as “Socrates was mortal.”
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Mathematics.
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of or relating to a linear transformation from a vector space to itself that is not one-to-one.
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of or relating to a matrix having a determinant equal to zero.
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Obsolete. private.
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Obsolete. single.
noun
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the singular number.
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a form in the singular.
adjective
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remarkable; exceptional; extraordinary
a singular feat
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unusual; odd
a singular character
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unique
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denoting a word or an inflected form of a word indicating that not more than one referent is being referred to or described
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logic of or referring to a specific thing or person as opposed to something general
noun
Other Word Forms
- singularly adverb
- singularness noun
- supersingular adjective
- unsingular adjective
- unsingularly adverb
- unsingularness noun
Etymology
Origin of singular
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English word from Latin word singulāris. See single, -ar 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A New-York Tribune editorial expressed his confidence, “these singular sounds and seeming manifestations are not produced by Mrs. Fox and her daughters, nor by any human being connected with them.”
From Literature
“Adult Swim has always been a creator‑driven network and ‘Smiling Friends’ simply wouldn’t exist without the singular vision and ambitious creativity of its co-creators.
From Los Angeles Times
She’s drawn to writing and to singular voices.
From Los Angeles Times
There have been many stops in his career, but his focus has been singular.
From BBC
The meetings began years ago, with a simple spreadsheet and a singular goal: We wanted to buy an apartment.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
