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Webster 1913 Edition

Incomparable

In-com′pa-ra-ble

,
Adj.
[L.
incomparabilis
: cf. F.
incomparable
. See
In-
not, and
Comparable
.]
Not comparable; admitting of no comparison with others; unapproachably eminent; without a peer or equal; matchless; peerless; transcendent.
A merchant of
incomparable
wealth.
Shakespeare
–
In-com′pa-ra-ble-ness
,
Noun.
–
In-com′pa-ra-bly
,
adv.
Delights
incomparably
all those corporeal things.
Bp. Wilkins.

Webster 1828 Edition

Incomparable

INCOM'PARABLE

,
Adj.
[in and comparable.] That admits of no comparison with others; usually in a good sense, but it may be properly used in a bad sense. When we say, an incomparable man, we mean a man of good qualities, or of some excellence that raises him above comparison or equality with others. So we say, incomparable excellence, virtue, wit, &c. But incomparable baseness or malignity may be used with propriety.

Definition 2024

incomparable

incomparable

English

Adjective

incomparable ‎(comparative more incomparable, superlative most incomparable)

  1. So much better than another as to be beyond comparison; matchless or unsurpassed.
    • c. 1905, Oscar Wilde, De Profundis, (1909), Robert Baldwin Ross, ed., 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.
  2. (rare) Not able to be compared.

Usage notes

  • Using more or most with incomparable, though often disapproved, is relatively common. Such uses may once have only been accepted for poetic effect, but are now widespread.
  • Despite its apparently absolute meaning, incomparable is often used as if there were degrees of incomparability, occurring with adverbs such as so and very.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

French

Etymology

in- +‎ comparable

Adjective

incomparable m, f ‎(plural incomparables)

  1. incomparable; uncomparable

Spanish

Adjective

incomparable m, f ‎(plural incomparables)

  1. uncomparable

Etymology

From Middle French incomparable, from Old French, from Latin incomparabilis

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