extraordinaryex‧traor‧di‧na‧ry /ɪkˈstrɔːdənəri $ ɪkˈstrɔːrdn-eri, ˌekstrəˈɔːr-/ ●●○ S3 W3 adjective 
It took an extraordinary amount of work. It’s extraordinary that he should make exactly the same mistake again.quite/most extraordinary British English Chris’s behaviour that morning was quite extraordinary.extraordinary thing to do/say/happen What an extraordinary thing to do!how extraordinary! British English spoken (=used to express surprise)► see thesaurus at surprising2very much greater or more impressive than usual SYN incredible: a woman of extraordinary beauty an extraordinary talent3extraordinary meeting/session etc a meeting which takes place in addition to the usual ones4envoy/ambassador/minister extraordinary an official employed for a special purpose, in addition to the usual officials
WORD ORIGINextraordinary
Origin:
1400-1500 Latin extraordinarius, from extra ordinem ‘out of the usual course’, from ordo ‘order’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- According to Shafer, many people in high positions hold some extraordinary beliefs.
- Everything about the woman -- her hair, eyes, and jewellery -- gleamed with extraordinary brilliance.
- He's the most extraordinary man I've ever met.
- He really was a most extraordinary man.
- He said it was an extraordinary decision and would send many industries spinning into recession.
- She left her husband, and in 1912 that was an extraordinary thing to do.
- The man's story was so extraordinary that I didn't know whether to believe him or not.
- The show's ratings were extraordinary - it was a huge success.
- The view from up here is extraordinary.
- The whole incident had been quite extraordinary.
- A madness, an extraordinary fanaticism, took possession of all these new worshippers of the sun.
- As the story unfolds, first Axel and then Alec come to wield extraordinary power in Washington without running for elective office.
- At this point I was witness to an extraordinary, moving and almost frightening scene.
- Bley plays acoustic piano in duo with Steve Swallow, and their rapport projects extraordinary warmth on this delightful album.
- It is not the story of extraordinary families.
- Sometimes this sympathy could involve quite extraordinary leniency.
- That would give them extraordinary power over the lives of other people on a level simply not acceptable in a democracy.
- Their system of working can lead to extraordinary scenes.
THESAURUS
making you feel surprised: · It’s surprising how quickly you get used to it.· We got some very surprising results.
very surprising. Astounding sounds a little more formal and a little stronger than astonishing: · The results of the tests were astounding.· Things are changing at an astonishing speed.
very unusual and surprising: · It is extraordinary that such a young boy should be so good at maths.
very surprising – used especially about good or impressive things: · an amazing achievement· It’s amazing what you can do when you really try.
very surprising, especially by being so large: · The project cost a staggering $8 million.
(also incredible) so surprising that you can hardly believe it: · It is unbelievable that she is only the same age as me.· The incredible thing is that he thinks he is ugly.
Longman Language Activatorunusually good or impressive unusual beauty, talent etc is much better or more impressive than usual: · Alan's work shows unusual talent and originality.· He had an unusual ability to rise above the prejudices of his generation.
unusually good, impressive, or important: · Joe has a special gift for mathematics.· The bond between Sonya and her mother was very special.
very much better, more beautiful, or more impressive than what is usual: · He really was a most extraordinary man.· The view from up here is extraordinary.· Everything about the woman -- her hair, eyes, and jewellery -- gleamed with extraordinary brilliance.
an exceptional person or thing is so good that they are unusual compared to most other things or people of a similar type: · When it comes to natural footballing ability, Gascoigne is exceptional.· Graham Greene had exceptional talents as a story-teller.· It's one of the best examples of old English furniture I've seen -- it truly is exceptional.
someone or something that is remarkable is unusually good or skilled, so that you notice them and admire them: · The record features some remarkable guitar and piano solos.· Henry Tippett showed remarkable flair as a hotelier.· a remarkable statesman and diplomat
very special and unusual: · He had that rare gift of being able to impart enthusiasm to others.· She bore her illness with rare courage.· Huston is a film-maker who has achieved a rare kind of beauty in his work.
informal use this to describe someone or something that is unusually good, impressive, or enjoyable: · This is quite a house.· Jane told me I was almost intelligent, which from her is quite a compliment.· That was some party last night!· "She's some lady," he said, with admiration.
happening or existing extremely rarely - use this especially about the qualities someone or something has or about a chance to do something: · She has a unique ability to communicate with animals of all kinds.· This vacation offers a unique opportunity to visit some of the most remote mountain areas of the region.
not what usually happens · We had snow in April, which is very unusual.· She had an unusual last name - Peachtree or Plumtree or something like that.· I first met Maria in unusual circumstances -- we were both stuck in a Brazilian airport.it is unusual to do something · It is unusual to find lakes of this size in Britain.it is unusual for somebody to do something · We were beginning to worry. It was unusual for David to be so late.
something that is extraordinary is very unusual because it would normally be very unlikely to happen or exist: · The man's story was so extraordinary that I didn't know whether to believe him or not.· He said it was an extraordinary decision and would send many industries spinning into recession.an extraordinary thing to do/say/happen: · She left her husband, and in 1912 that was an extraordinary thing to do.quite/most extraordinary British (=very extraordinary): · The whole incident had been quite extraordinary.
an exceptional situation is very unusual and happens very rarely: · A few of the top executives are women, but this is still exceptional.in exceptional circumstances/cases: · Exit visas are only given in exceptional circumstances.
something that is uncommon or not common is unusual because it does not happen very often: · The disease mostly affects older people, and is not common among people under 50.it is uncommon/not common (for somebody) to do something: · It is uncommon for small babies to sleep more than four hours without waking.
spoken say you don't usually see, find, hear etc something when it is very unusual to see it, find it etc: · You don't usually see rabbits of this size.· You don't often get people ringing up in the middle of the night to say they've found a body in the bath.
unusual and surprising or special: · Something out of the ordinary happened to us that night.· The goalkeeper did not have to do anything out of the ordinary to keep his side in the game.
a special occasion, situation, method etc is one that is different from what normally happens, and usually better: · There were special security arrangements for the President's visit.· The prince said he didn't want any special treatment in his new school.special event/occasion: · I would only buy expensive shoes for a special event such as a wedding.· a book of recipes for every day and special occasions tooin special circumstances: · Prisoners are only allowed to visit their families in special circumstances.
: freak accident/storm/conditions etc an accident, storm etc that is very unusual and unexpected: · He broke his leg in a freak training accident.· A freak wave wrecked most of the seafront.· Two planes were lifted up and thrown across the tarmac by a freak gust of wind.
off-beat films, designs, ideas etc are unusual and often seem interesting or humorous because they are so different from the usual ones: · We had some really offbeat ideas for T-shirt designs.· Movies featuring original or offbeat material are rarely big box-office successes.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY It’s extraordinary that he should make exactly the same mistake again. What an extraordinary thing to do!
It’s extraordinary that he should make exactly the same mistake again. British English Chris’s behaviour that morning was quite extraordinary.
Chris’s behaviour that morning was quite extraordinary. What an extraordinary thing to do! British English spoken (=used to express surprise)
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES (=one that is unusual or surprising and deserves praise)· In recognition of this remarkable achievement he was awarded the OBE.
· What an extraordinary coincidence meeting you here!
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· Betty was being rude to her. How extraordinary.· And the acceptance of excrement as a standard? How extraordinary!· I said, how extraordinary, look at the swallows.· And how extraordinary his life was already.· I often wonder just how extraordinary some of our customs must appear to those who have no experience of churchgoing.
· Anderson's behaviour appears even more extraordinary when, having initiated this topic he immediately closes it.· However, the real story of Le Pin is even more extraordinary than the astonishing prices.· I said that I had never heard anything more extraordinary.
· The two men, however, seemed to be accompanied by a most extraordinary smell.· They were the most extraordinary eyes he had ever seen.· But then follows the most extraordinary and graceful ballet.· Monk shares the piano bench with Horace Silver, a most extraordinary moment in jazz history.· And now, quite slowly, there began to creep over Matilda a most extraordinary and peculiar feeling.· We live within the most extraordinary mythic drama imaginable.· Edith Taylor's story is one of the most extraordinary.· But shortly she seemed to falter, and at the same time I beheld a most extraordinary thing.
· But now something quite extraordinary happens.· But it is quite extraordinary that no woman has won the prize since it's inception.· This is a quite extraordinary extrapolation from experience.· They stopped at the top of the hill and sat down. Quite extraordinary behaviour - the rain was pouring down.· Some quite extraordinary statements are being made.· The flounder has become adapted to bottom-living to a quite extraordinary degree.· As normal as Nechita seems, she is clearly quite extraordinary.
· It therefore gives little hint of what makes its author so extraordinary a figure.· It was so extraordinary it had to be true.· In fact, these powers were not so extraordinary by local standards.· The contrast during the week of mission was so extraordinary as to affect Ramsey's life.· Why do you find that so extraordinary?· On the other hand, perhaps, in the fourth century, it was not so extraordinary after all.· It seems to us so extraordinary, yet the storyteller does not blink an eyelid.
NOUN· These aren't really a type of virus; the name merely describes their extraordinary ability to hide from anti-virus software.· His speeches at maneuver conferences were always logical and enlightening, and one could not help respecting his extraordinary ability.· I am always struck by Pollini's extraordinary ability to integrate even the most fearless of contrasts into a convincing whole.
· There have been attempts to depict this extraordinary achievement as a form of musical consumerism.· His extraordinary achievements of discovery, surveying and collecting were not acknowledged in his lifetime.· Technically it is an extraordinary achievement.· The Jubilee 2000 campaign, which officially ended last week, has been an extraordinary achievement.
· Even then, it takes an extraordinary amount of opposition to sink a nominee.· It pumps an extraordinary amount of money into a very small region.· They have sifted through an extraordinary amount of information, and compiled a readable, thorough and ground-breaking account of the subject.· The answer is, an extraordinary amount, and likely far more than you realize.· In the United States, extraordinary amounts of money are now contributed to political actors by interest groups.
· The group's investments in Berisford and Hillsdown have been further written down resulting in an extraordinary charge of £31m.· The planned repurchase would result in an extraordinary charge of about $ 22 million against first-quarter earnings, the company said.· An extraordinary charge of £11.7 million covers the closure of businesses and goodwill write-offs.· Pergamon included an extraordinary charge of £38.7m but gave no further details.· After a hefty extraordinary charge for disposals and closures, Storehouse showed a £28.3m loss.· The Darlington group also suffered from an extraordinary charge associated with the imminent sales of £2.5m.· The figures are struck before an extraordinary charge of £2.3m reflecting costs incurred in the failed Forte catering bid.· Pre-tax profits were down 4.9% at £77m, reflecting £43m extraordinary charges.
· The Bursar explains that this is an extraordinary measure in extraordinary circumstances.· Extraordinary events and extraordinary circumstances tend to produce new ways of looking at things.· We are, after all, ordinary people, albeit born to live in extraordinary circumstances.· No wonder, at her age, and in such extraordinary circumstances.· We would need extraordinary circumstances to arise before we abandoned laws like the Law of Non-Contradiction.
· The split was formally approved at an extraordinary congress in Prague on Feb. 23.· A new central committee would be chosen at an extraordinary congress, fixed for April 10.· The extraordinary Congress of People's Deputies session convened on March 12.
· The flounder has become adapted to bottom-living to a quite extraordinary degree.· In that, he succeeded to an extraordinary degree.
· I was sticky with mud, and my mind kept going over and over the extraordinary events of the afternoon and evening.· He provides straight forward accounts not only of the fall of the Aegospotami meteorite, but of many other extraordinary events.· That is the latest bizarre instalment in the never-ending story of extraordinary events at Underhill.· In fact it was an extraordinary event and all the people who were there became totally engaged.· This month an extraordinary event takes place at Harrods.· Hands linked behind her head, she lay for a while thinking over the extraordinary events of the day.· What was the meaning of such an extraordinary event?· The activity gave a normality to the scene which belied the extraordinary events that had taken place there just a few days before.
· In another year, a capital receipt was credited to the profit and loss account but shown as an extraordinary item.· It earned S $ 32 million last year before an extraordinary item.· If material, it would be treated as an extraordinary item.· He tackles familiar areas such as goodwill and intangibles, depreciation and extraordinary items.· The treatment of exceptional and extraordinary items.
· And some of them will go to extraordinary lengths to try to find out.· Every man had his say - some at extraordinary length.· The Essex-based dance star has gone to extraordinary lengths to mask his identity since storming the charts with his debut single.· The Bible laws of mikva are so important for women, that women have gone to extraordinary lengths to keep them.
· He was just a very extraordinary man and I was very fortunate to have had those twelve years.· He was an extraordinary man, one of the most civilized and cultured men I have ever met.· Rose Quinton looked at the extraordinary man and thought as many another had: what a pity!· As a matter of fact, it was the finest and most extraordinary man I ever knew.· What the court ruled on was the ordinary everyday behaviour of an extraordinary man.· Perhaps part of the difficulty lies in the extraordinary man who is his subject.· It was marvellous to see so many young people paying their tribute to this extraordinary man.
· Already he has called an extraordinary meeting of directors and supporters to discuss his radical new proposals.· And the Press Council called senior editors to the first extraordinary meeting convened in its twenty-seven-year history to discuss the matter.
· There were extraordinary numbers of roads that had no signposts.· He drew deeply on a cigarette, stubbing it afterwards in an ashtray which held an extraordinary number of butts.· Making an extraordinary number of handling errors and under-using the speed in their backs, Widnes were scarcely in the hunt.· There seemed to be an extraordinary number of people in the street.· An equally extraordinary number of replies found their way back in a deluge to Manchester.
· One folk tale about Johnson suggested he was protected by an extraordinary power.· As the story unfolds, first Axel and then Alec come to wield extraordinary power in Washington without running for elective office.· Another aspect of Bob's extraordinary powers behind the wheel was that drink did not affect them.· We have only to look about us to witness the extraordinary power that our understandings of Nature have helped us to obtain.· The central committee was granted extraordinary powers to take policy decisions during the current crisis period.· He was an extraordinarily powerful individual, and he demanded extraordinary power.· The Who are legendary examples of the extraordinary power that music can achieve.· It gave Becton the title of chief executive officer and conferred extraordinary powers upon him.
· It is the most extraordinary story, of a life marked by astonishing luck, both bad and good.· It's only when you've heard his extraordinary story that you realise this is no ordinary man.· I was still dazed by the extraordinary story he had told me.· This extraordinary story was inspired by the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the disillusion which followed.· This extraordinary story was ruthlessly edited down to its allotted span and eventually tucked away in the last of four hour-long programmes.· It is an extraordinary story, about an extraordinary family, and one that I wanted to witness at first hand.
· Not in the wildest days of his boyish visions could he have seen the alluring shape of such an extraordinary success!· The test was an extraordinary success.
· A few days after they had learnt that Haroun was the illegitimate son of Jazali an extraordinary thing had happened.· I did a number of extraordinary things before I was two.· The extraordinary thing is that reviewing isn't done more often as a systematic deliberate process.· This was a fairly extraordinary thing for Volkov to have done.· I have extraordinary things to report about the child.· The four plump man-apes were still there, and now they were doing extraordinary things.· For this was the extraordinary thing about Pipeline.· The extraordinary thing about his neighbor is that he knew she really meant this foolish remark.
· Let us talk instead about our hostess; what an extraordinary woman!· Luckily I met an extraordinary woman who helped me.· Anne Nielson was an extraordinary woman, as he had known for years.· The catalyst for this transformation was an extraordinary woman named Kimi Gray.· But Sinead is an extraordinary woman.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY
1very unusual or surprising: - Already he has called an extraordinary meeting of directors and supporters to discuss his radical new proposals.
- And the Press Council called senior editors to the first extraordinary meeting convened in its twenty-seven-year history to discuss the matter.
- The announcement came two hours before an extraordinary meeting of Bryant shareholders that had been expected to approve the merger with Beazer.
- He was an Ambassador Extraordinary Plenipotentiaryfor all mankind.
It took an extraordinary amount of work. It’s extraordinary that he should make exactly the same mistake again.quite/most extraordinary British English Chris’s behaviour that morning was quite extraordinary.extraordinary thing to do/say/happen What an extraordinary thing to do!how extraordinary! British English spoken (=used to express surprise)► see thesaurus at surprising2very much greater or more impressive than usual SYN incredible: a woman of extraordinary beauty an extraordinary talent3extraordinary meeting/session etc a meeting which takes place in addition to the usual ones4envoy/ambassador/minister extraordinary an official employed for a special purpose, in addition to the usual officials