Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Being an exception; uncommon.
  • adjective Well above average; extraordinary.
  • adjective Deviating widely from a norm, as of physical or mental ability.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Relating to or forming an exception; contrary to the rule; out of the regular or ordinary course.
  • Synonyms Irregular, unusual, uncommou, unnatural, peculiar, anomalous.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Forming an exception; not ordinary; uncommon; rare; hence, better than the average; superior.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Forming an exception; not ordinary; uncommon; rare.
  • adjective Better than the average; superior due to rarity.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective deviating widely from a norm of physical or mental ability; used especially of children below normal in intelligence
  • adjective far beyond what is usual in magnitude or degree
  • adjective surpassing what is common or usual or expected

Etymologies

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Examples

  • His book is full of examples of what he calls "exceptional patients" who used their illness experience to give themselves permission to find their true, authentic selves and in so doing, creatively induced a type of self-healing.

    Trish Kinney: Healing Is More Than Science Trish Kinney 2011

  • Hours before the vote, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner praised what he called her "exceptional talent and broad experience."

    New IMF Chief Widely Respected 2011

  • His book is full of examples of what he calls "exceptional patients" who used their illness experience to give themselves permission to find their true, authentic selves and in so doing, creatively induced a type of self-healing.

    Trish Kinney: Healing Is More Than Science Trish Kinney 2011

  • Hours before the vote, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner praised what he called her "exceptional talent and broad experience."

    New IMF Chief Widely Respected 2011

  • We have got some very extreme drought conditions into the southwest but it's right here in the Southeast where we have what we call exceptional drought.

    CNN Transcript Nov 13, 2007 2007

  • Suppose some strange fancy had seized upon my imagination -- that is the doctor's cant word for all phenomena which we call exceptional -- some strange fancy that

    A Strange Story — Volume 08 Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838

  • The German court found that enacting any data retention legislation requires a regard for what it termed the exceptional intensity of the interference with human rights that result from such measures.

    Digital Rights Ireland Administrator 2010

  • In another development, Egypt closed the Rafah crossing to all but what it called exceptional cases on Thursday.

    Khilafah.com - Building a global movement for Khilafah 2009

  • In another development, Egypt closed the Rafah crossing to all but what it called exceptional cases on Thursday.

    Top Stories - Google News 2009

  • Now, after five years of her daughter receiving what she calls exceptional care, Zeller is concerned the hospital will close, forcing her to travel to and from her Suffield home to Boston - a trip three times as long - to find another pediatrician who specializes in childhood arthritis.

    Reader - MassLive.com 2009

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