Unique Meaning
/juːˈniːk/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjBeing the only one of its kind; unequaled, unparalleled or unmatched.
adjOf a feature, such that only one holder has it.
Sentence Examples
The more unique each person is, the more he contributes to the wisdom of others.
He's a pretty unique guy, wearing bell bottoms and Hawaiian shirts to the office.
This is a plant unique to this country.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The artist's painting style was so ____ that nobody could imitate it.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Each snowflake has a ____ pattern that is different from every other snowflake in the world today.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from French unique, from Latin unicus. Doublet of unic.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Perhaps the reader will wonder why we have placed our " beings " on a sphere rather than on another closed surface. But this choice has its justification in the fact that, of all closed surfaces, the sphere is unique in possessing the property that all points on it are equivalent."
— 1920, Robert W. Lawson, Relativity: The Special and General Theory, translation of original by Albert Einstein:
"3. Both were written and published with the same unique chorus structure;
4. Both compositions were written and published with the same unique harmonic structure;"
— 1941, Allen v. Walt Disney:
"‘[…] There's every Staffordshire crime-piece ever made in this cabinet, and that's unique. The Van Hoyer Museum in New York hasn't that very rare second version of Maria Marten's Red Barn over there, nor the little Frederick George Manning—he was the criminal Dickens saw hanged on the roof of the gaol in Horsemonger Lane, by the way—’"
— 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
"Admiralty Island contains unique resources of scientific interest which need protection to assure continued opportunities for study."
— 1978, Jimmy Carter, Proclamation 4611:
"A very interesting history of United Nations at war in Korea, done in an^([sic]) unique question and answer style."
— 1998, Paul M. Edwards, The Korean War: An Annotated Bibliography, Greenwood Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 114:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The artist's painting style was so ____ that nobody could imitate it.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Each snowflake has a ____ pattern that is different from every other snowflake in the world today.