nonpareil

adj.
Having no equal; peerless: the Yankees' nonpareil center fielder.

n.

1. A person or thing that has no equal; a paragon.
2. See painted bunting.
3. A small, flat chocolate drop covered with white pellets of sugar.

[Middle English nounparalle, from Old French nonpareil : non-, non- + pareil, equal (from Vulgar Latin *pariculus , diminutive of Latin pār, equal).]

Columnist Frank Rich waxed eloquent about what he saw as the corruption in the Bush administration, comparing it unfavorably to the scandal-ridden tenure of president Warren G. Harding, then pointed the finger of responsibility at Democrats as well:

"As for the Democrats, they are nonpareil at posturing about the unstoppable nomination of John Roberts... Yet when David Safavian [until recently the chief of White House federal procurement policy, who has now been arrested for lying and obstructing an investigation] was up for a job involving hundreds of billions of dollars, and much of his dubious résumé was fully known, he was approved by the ranking Democrat, Joe Lieberman..."

Link: Bring Back Warren Harding

Posted September 27, 2005.

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

[non-puh-REHL] 1. A tiny colored-sugar pellet used to decorate cakes, cookies, candy, etc. 2. A confection consisting of a small chocolate disc covered with these colored candy pellets. 3. A French term meaning "without equal," most often used in reference to small pickled capers from the region of Provence in France.

adjective

Without equal or rival: alone, incomparable, matchless, only, peerless, singular, unequaled, unexampled, unique, unmatched, unparalleled, unrivaled. See same/different/compare.

noun

A person or thing so excellent as to have no equal or match: nonesuch, paragon, phoenix. See good/bad.

adj

Definition: incomparable
Antonyms: mediocre

n

Definition: best
Antonyms: mediocrity

---

IN BRIEF: Something of unequaled excellence.

The feverish prose that she composed that night was nonpareil.

Quotes:

"If someone were to pay you $.10 for every kind word you ever spoke and collect $.05 for every unkind word, would you be rich or poor?"

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - uforlignelig, mageløs
n. - nonpareille

Nederlands (Dutch)
ongeëvenaard, weergaloos persoon, flikje bedekt suikerkorreltjes, (ongeveer) muisjes, zespuntse drukletter

Français (French)
adj. - sans égal
n. - sans égal, (US, Culin) nonpareilles (npl)

Deutsch (German)
n. - Ausnahmeerscheinung, noch nicht Dagewesenes
adj. - unvergleichlich, ohnegleichen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ιδεώδες) πρότυπο
adj. - απαράμιλλος, ασύγκριτος

Italiano (Italian)
impareggiabile, unico

Português (Portuguese)
n. - pessoa ou coisa (f) incomparável, corpo (m) seis
adj. - incomparável

Русский (Russian)
нонпарель, несравненный

Español (Spanish)
adj. - sin par, sin igual, excelente
n. - persona o cosa sin par o sin igual

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - person utan like, mönster, nonpareille
adj. - makalös

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
无比的, 极上品

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 無比的
n. - 極上品

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 비할 데 없는
n. - 둘도 없는 사람[물건], 6포인트 활자

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 無比の, この上ない
n. - 無比のもの, 絶品

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) شخص منقطع النظير (صفه) لا مثيل له‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮אין כמוהו, מקורי, יחיד במינו‬
n. - ‮דבר או אדם מקוריים או יחידים במינם‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.