singular

[ sing-gyuh-ler ]

adjective

1. extraordinary; remarkable; exceptional:

   a singular success.

   Synonyms: peculiar

   Antonyms: usual

2. unusual or strange; odd; different:

   singular behavior.

   Synonyms: curious, queer, bizarre, peculiar

3. being the only one of its kind; distinctive; unique:

   a singular example.

   Synonyms: rare, uncommon, peculiar

4. separate; individual.

   Synonyms: single, peculiar

5. Grammar. noting or pertaining to a member of the category of number found in many languages that indicates that a word form has one referent or denotes one person, place, thing, or instance, as English boy and thing, which are singular nouns, or goes, a singular form of the verb go. Compare dual ( def 4 ), plural ( def 4 ).
6. Logic.
   1. of or relating to something individual, specific, or not general.
   2. (of a proposition) containing no quantifiers, as “Socrates was mortal.”
7. Mathematics.
   1. of or relating to a linear transformation from a vector space to itself that is not one-to-one.
   2. of or relating to a matrix having a determinant equal to zero.
8. Obsolete. private.
9. Obsolete. single.

noun

, Grammar.

1. the singular number.
2. a form in the singular.

singular

/ ˈsɪŋɡjʊlə /

adjective

1. remarkable; exceptional; extraordinary

   a singular feat

2. unusual; odd

   a singular character

3. unique
4. denoting a word or an inflected form of a word indicating that not more than one referent is being referred to or described
5. logic of or referring to a specific thing or person as opposed to something general

noun

1. grammar
   1. the singular number
   2. a singular form of a word

singular

1. In nouns , pronouns , and verbs , the grammatical form that refers to only one thing. In the following sentence, the singular words are italicized: “The police officer stops anyone who crosses before the light changes .” ( Compare plural ; see agreement .)

Derived Forms

• ˈsingularness, noun
• ˈsingularly, adverb

Other Words From

• singu·lar·ly adverb
• singu·lar·ness noun
• super·singu·lar adjective
• un·singu·lar adjective
• un·singu·lar·ly adverb
• un·singu·lar·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of singular¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English word from Latin word singulāris. See single, -ar ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of singular¹

C14: from Latin singulāris single

Example Sentences

I always prided myself on being singular — not really being part of a milieu.

From Los Angeles Times

“Joe Biden is the singular reason Kamala Harris and Democrats lost tonight.”

From BBC

“There is no singular reason why we lost, but a big reason is because the Obama advisers publicly encouraged Democratic infighting to push Joe Biden out, didn’t even want Kamala Harris as the nominee, and then signed up as the saviors of the campaign only to run outdated Obama-era playbooks for a candidate that wasn’t Obama,” a former Biden staffer told Politico's Playbook.

From Salon

President Biden will leave office having made a historic but singular appointment in Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the court’s first Black woman.

From Los Angeles Times

Although there is no singular facet that causes crime statistics to rise or fall, victims rights advocates and law enforcement leaders have recently aimed their frustrations at two targets: progressive prosecutors such as those in L.A. and the Bay Area, and Proposition 47.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bizarre
• exceptional
• extraordinary
• peculiar
• rare
• remarkable
• strange
• uncommon
• unimaginable
• unparalleled
• unprecedented
• unusual