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say it: yoo-NEEK
unique is an adjective meaning "radically distinctive and without equal". It is pronounced /juˈnik/ — yoo-NEEK. It carries 4 recorded senses.
radically distinctive and without equal
“he is alone in the field of microbiology”
“this theory is altogether alone in its penetration of the problem”
“Bach was unique in his handling of counterpoint”
“craftsmen whose skill is unequaled”
“unparalleled athletic ability”
“a breakdown of law unparalleled in our history”
(followed by `to') applying exclusively to a given category or condition or locality
“a species unique to Australia”
highly unusual or rare but not the single instance
“spoke with a unique accent”
“had unique ability in raising funds”
“a frankness unique in literature”
“a unique dining experience”
Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for unique come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.