Meaning of extraordinary in English

extraordinary

adjective

/ɪkˈstrɔːr.dən.er.i/ uk

/ɪkˈstrɔː.dɪn.ər.i/

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very unusual, special, unexpected, or strange:

He told the extraordinary story of his escape.

Her voice had an extraordinary hypnotic quality.

an extraordinary coincidence

Opposite

unextraordinary

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

good or important because of unusual qualities

specialAre you doing anything special for your birthday?
exceptionalTheir standard of acting was very high but there was one exceptional performance.
outstandingHe accepted an award for outstanding achievement in baseball.
extraordinaryHer capacity to remember things is extraordinary.
deluxeThe salesman tried to sell us the deluxe model.

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extraordinary meeting mainly UK

a special meeting that happens between regular meetings:

He presided over an extraordinary meeting of the country's leading clergy.

More examplesFewer examples

We witnessed the extraordinary sight of an old lady climbing a tree to rescue her cat.
The rain forest is home to many extraordinary creatures.
She has an extraordinary memory and can remember details and names that I've long forgotten.
Whatever is that extraordinary object in the sky?
Eastern Europe was completely transformed by the extraordinary events of 1989 and 1990.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Unique and unusual

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Strange, suspicious and unnatural

(Definition of extraordinary from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

extraordinary | Intermediate English

extraordinary

adjective

/ɪkˈstrɔr·dənˌer·i/

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very unusual and special; different in type or greater in degree than the usual or ordinary:

Being chairman gave him an extraordinary sense of power.

She was an extraordinary woman, and no one will ever forget her.

extraordinarily

adverb us

/ɪkˌstrɔr·dənˈer·ə·li/

(Definition of extraordinary from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

extraordinary | Business English

extraordinary

adjective

/ɪkˈstrɔːdənəri/ us

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very unusual, special, or unexpected:

extraordinary accomplishment/achievement/effort It's an extraordinary accomplishment to be able to run a successful project for 40 years.

After a rough start, this year is shaping up to be a year of extraordinary growth for the company.

[ before noun ] ACCOUNTING

used to describe a large cost or loss that does not happen regularly:

The oil spill was handled as an extraordinary expense - a non-recurring, one-time event.

[ before noun ]

used to describe something that does not happen regularly but that is arranged for a special purpose:

They convened an extraordinary meeting of shareholders to discuss the issue.

(Definition of extraordinary from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of extraordinary

extraordinary

It is an extraordinary story of forgiveness and redemption.

From Huffington Post

It gives the police broad powers to deal with cases of extraordinary violence without granting them similar powers for ordinary criminal investigations.

From Slate Magazine

Although they are given few scenes that suggest actual (if extraordinary) humans going about their lives, the players are first-rate.

From Los Angeles Times

It's an intimate process, and an extraordinary trust to be allowed to see a writer's work before it goes out into the world.

From Slate Magazine

The book asks much of each of us, but the rewards are extraordinary.

From Huffington Post

I know a lot of extraordinary people, but they're not ordinary.

From Chicago Tribune

It is the gorillas' begrudging tolerance of your presence that it is so extraordinary.

From TIME

The extraordinary thing about this case, it was a very good and prompt resolution that was achieved at stellar speed.

From Huffington Post

With those odds, "pretty good" doesn't cut it; you'll win only if your players manage extraordinary performances.

From Minneapolis Star Tribune

In the last days of life, many people report having extraordinary visions and dreams that they say help them become less afraid of death.

From Huffington Post

This luxury, nearly lost in the scrum of today's hectic museum experience, seems no less extraordinary than the treasures on view here.

From The New York Review of Books

But my involvement is minimal compared to the extraordinary efforts by others who raise money for schools in our town.

From The Atlantic

It is their predicament that is extraordinary, and this makes their travails the more gripping.

From Los Angeles Times

An extraordinary ability to love and laugh after having lived through so much hate.

From Huffington Post

But they went through extraordinary lengths to get that effect.

From CNET

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of extraordinary?