Make Your Point: NONPAREIL

Make Your Point > Archived Issues > NONPAREIL

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

pronounce NONPAREIL:

NON puh RELL

Hear it.

connect this word to others:

Whether you're talking about a superstar musician, like Elton John, or an insanely delicious breakfast, like avocado toast, if you're saying that someone or something is the absolute best, you can call them a paragon, or a nonpareil, or an exemplar, or the crème de la crème.

Or, get even fancier and call them fac___ prin____, meaning "easily first: the best of their kind." Or the b___ i____, meaning "the best or most perfect kind of beauty or excellence."

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

"Nonpareil" traces back through French to Latin. It has Latin bits that literally mean "not equaled."

Someone or something nonpareil is the best: amazing, excellent, with no equals.

And, a nonpareil is a person or a thing that's amazing and excellent, with no equals.

Because this word is so lovely, and so complimentary, it's taken on many specific meanings. For example, a nonpareil is a kind of apple, a kind of songbird, and a kind of beautiful sugary treat that's great for decorating cakes or snacking on at the movies.

(Source)

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Most often an adjective. You can put it before a noun ("He's a nonpareil comedy writer"), or put it after a linking verb ("As a comedy writer, he's nonpareil"), or even get extra-fancy and put it after a noun ("He's a comedy writer nonpareil").

It's also a noun: "Let's get a box of nonpareils." "He's a nonpareil among comedy writers."

Other forms:

Just the plural, "nonpareils."

how to use it:

When you need a rarer, fancier, more emphatic word than "peerless" or "unparalleled," pick "nonpareil."

We most often use it as an adjective: "It's a nonpareil documentary;" "She's a nonpareil novelist;" "Shai Seltzer, a goatherd and cheesemaker nonpareil (New York Times)."

It's rare these days to use "nonpareil" as a figurative noun. But you can certainly do it. You might call someone or something "the nonpareil of (some type of person or thing)," as in "Oscar Hammerstein was the nonpareil of lyricists" or "The OED is the nonpareil of English dictionaries."

examples:

"And so she began to invent a more appropriate life for herself. 'This morning Zo and I went down to volunteer at the Red Cross,' wrote my mother, who had spent the entire day at the Fox Theater, eating nonpareils."
— Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex, 2002

"Gardiner has cast a theater newcomer, gifted Washington jazz pianist and composer Mark G. Meadows, as Jelly Roll. And though his musicianship is nonpareil, Meadows's inexperience as an actor is evident."
— Peter Marks, Washington Post, 11 August 2016

has this page helped you understand "nonpareil"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "nonpareil" without saying "a model of perfection" or "unparalleled."

try it out:

As you've probably noticed, it's normal to put an adjective before a noun ("a nonpareil singer"), and it's fancier and more formal to put it after ("a singer nonpareil").

Try out that fancier, more formal structure as you fill in the blanks: "(Someone or something) is (something) nonpareil."

Example 1: "Eric Clapton is a guitarist nonpareil."

Example 2: "We soon learned what many who have journeyed abroad with a baby know well: small children are the ultimate traveling prop, a cultural bridge nonpareil."
— Jennifer Bleyer, New York Times, 17 December 2010

Example 3: "Tall actors may play short people, young actors may impersonate seniors, plain people may play beautiful ones; it’s fluidity nonpareil."
— Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 26 August 2021

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for April: Interpret the Titles!

I'll give you the title of some book, movie, or other creation, along with a summary, and I'll challenge you to interpret the title in three different ways.

For examples, and some tips if you get stuck, head here!

Try this one today: Arrested Development was a 2003–2019 television series created by Mitchell Hurwitz. Here's a summary from Entertainment Weekly: "The sitcom follows an emotionally stunted clan whose wealthy real estate developer pater, George Bluth, gets arrested for 'defrauding investors and using the company as his personal piggy bank,' as a chirpy local newscaster puts it. The bust occurs moments after George passes over his son Michael for the job of CEO, giving it instead to his shallow socialite wife, Lucille... The family, unmoved by the arrest, only truly falls apart when they discover that the company’s assets have been frozen... Eldest son GOB is a rage-filled magician with a second career in seething resentment... Youngest son Buster is a perpetual grad student who still lives with Mom and suffers from panic attacks. Michael’s 13-year-old son, the gawky and eager-to-please George Michael, develops an uncomfortable crush on his spunky cousin, the counter-rebellious Maeby... Not one of them could survive a day without help from Michael, the only functioning Bluth."

1. It's titled Arrested Development because... ?

2. It's titled Arrested Development because... ?

3. It's titled Arrested Development because... ?

To see some possible answers, scroll all the way down!

review this word:

1. One opposite of NONPAREIL is

A. PAIRED.
B. GARDEN-VARIETY.
C. THICK-AS-THIEVES.

2. In the Washington Post, Peter Marks _____ Anna Deavere Smith as "a nonpareil impressionist" and "_____."

A. panned .. remarkably unfunny
B. characterized .. a mediocre entertainer
C. praised .. the most gifted social observer-storyteller of our time

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

Make Your Point > Archived Issues > NONPAREIL Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

Subscribe to "Make Your Point" for a daily vocabulary boost.

Make Your Point > Archived Issues > NONPAREIL

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.