Exceptional

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Exceptional \Ex*cep"tion*al\, a. [Cf. F. exceptionnel.]
     Forming an exception; not ordinary; uncommon; rare; hence,
     better than the average; superior. --Lyell.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           This particular spot had exceptional advantages.


                                                    --Jowett (Th.
                                                    )
     -- {Ex*cep"tion*al*ly}, adv.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  exceptional
       adj 1: far beyond what is usual in magnitude or degree; "a night of
              exceeding darkness"; "an exceptional memory";
              "olympian efforts to save the city from bankruptcy";
              "the young Mozart's prodigious talents" [syn: {exceeding},
               {olympian}, {prodigious}, {surpassing}]
       2: surpassing what is common or usual or expected; "he paid
          especial attention to her"; "exceptional kindness"; "a
          matter of particular and unusual importance"; "a special
          occasion"; "a special reason to confide in her"; "what's
          so special about the year 2000?" [syn: {especial(a)}, {particular(a)},
           {special}]
       3: deviating widely from a norm of physical or mental ability;
          used especially of children below normal in intelligence;
          "special educational provisions for exceptional children"
          [syn: {exceptional(a)}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  163 Moby Thesaurus words for "exceptional":
     aberrant, abnormal, absolute, anomalous, appalling, astonishing,
     beguiling, bewildering, celebrated, certain, concrete, conspicuous,
     crank, crankish, cranky, crotchety, deficient, defined, definite,
     detailed, determinate, deviant, deviative, different, distinct,
     distinguished, divergent, dotty, eccentric, egregious, eminent,
     enigmatic, erratic, esoteric, especial, esteemed, estimable,
     ethnocentric, excellent, excluding, exclusive, exclusory, express,
     extraordinary, fabulous, fantastic, fascinating, fey, fixed, flaky,
     formidable, freakish, funny, gifted, good, handicapped, idiocratic,
     idiosyncratic, inadmissible, incomprehensible, inconceivable,
     incredible, indescribable, individual, ineffable, infrequent,
     inner, insular, intimate, irregular, kinky, kooky, legendary,
     maggoty, marked, marvelous, memorable, minute, miraculous,
     mythical, narrow, noble, notable, noteworthy, noticeable, nutty,
     odd, oddball, of mark, outlandish, outstanding, parochial,
     particular, passing strange, peculiar, personal, phenomenal,
     portentous, precise, preclusive, premium, prescriptive,
     prestigious, preventive, private, prodigious, prohibitive,
     prominent, puzzling, queer, quirky, rare, remarkable, rememberable,
     reputable, respective, restrictive, salient, scarce, screwball,
     screwy, seclusive, segregative, select, selective, sensational,
     separative, several, signal, singular, snobbish, solipsistic,
     special, specific, strange, striking, stupefying, stupendous,
     superior, talented, telling, twisted, uncommon, unconventional,
     uncustomary, unexampled, unforgettable, unheard-of, unimaginable,
     unique, unnatural, unordinary, unparalleled, unprecedented,
     unspeakable, unthinkable, unusual, unwonted, wacky, whimsical,
     wonderful, wondrous, xenophobic