incomparable

From Middle English incomparable, from Middle French incomparable, from Old French [Term?], from Latin incomparābilis. By surface analysis, in- +‎ comparable.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪŋˈkɒmp(ə)rəbəl/, /ɪŋkəmˈpærəbəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪŋˈkɑmp(ə)ɹəbəl/, /ɪŋkəmˈpɛɹəbəl/

incomparable (comparative more incomparable, superlative most incomparable)

1. (literally, not comparable) Not comparable.

   Synonyms: noncomparable, uncomparable

   Antonym: comparable

2. (figuratively, comparable) So much better than another as to be beyond comparison.

   Synonyms: matchless, unsurpassed

   • c. 1905, Oscar Wilde, edited by Robert Baldwin Ross, De Profundis, published 1909, page 112:

     I know of nothing in all drama more incomparable from the point of view of art, nothing more suggestive in its subtlety of observation, than Shakespeare's drawing of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

• Despite its apparently absolute meaning, incomparable is often used as if there were degrees of incomparability, occurring with adverbs such as so and very or the determiner most.

• priceless

incomparable (plural incomparables)

1. Something beyond compare; a thing with which there is no comparison.

• “incomparable”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “incomparable”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “incomparable”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
• “incomparable”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• incomparable, uncomparable, noncomparable at the Google Books Ngram Viewer.

Borrowed from Latin incomparābilis.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [iŋ.kum.pəˈɾab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [iŋ.kom.pəˈɾab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [iŋ.kom.paˈɾa.ble]

incomparable m or f (masculine and feminine plural incomparables)

1. uncomparable, incomparable

   Antonym: comparable

• incomparablement

• “incomparable”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “incomparable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “incomparable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “incomparable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From Latin incomparābilis.

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.kɔ̃.pa.ʁabl/

incomparable (plural incomparables)

1. incomparable; uncomparable

   Antonym: comparable

• incomparablement

• “incomparable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

From Latin incomparābilis.

incomparable m (feminine singular incomparabla, masculine plural incomparables, feminine plural incomparablas)

1. uncomparable, incomparable

   Antonym: comparable

• Joan de Cantalausa (2006) Diccionari general occitan a partir dels parlars lengadocians‎^[1], 2 edition, →ISBN, page 560.
• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana, L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2024, page 338.

From Latin incomparābilis.

• IPA^(key): /inkompaˈɾable/ [ĩŋ.kõm.paˈɾa.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: in‧com‧pa‧ra‧ble

incomparable m or f (masculine and feminine plural incomparables)

1. uncomparable

   Antonym: comparable

• “incomparable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024