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What is the difference between extraordinary and unusual?

extraordinary | unusual |

Unusual is a synonym of extraordinary.



As adjectives the difference between extraordinary and unusual

is that extraordinary is not ordinary; exceptional; unusual while unusual is unlike what is expected; differing in some way from the norm.

extraordinary

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Not ordinary; exceptional; unusual;
  • *
  • *
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 23, author=Tom Fordyce, work=BBC Sport
    • , title= 2011 Rugby World Cup final: New Zealand 8-7 France , passage=Tony Woodcock's early try and a penalty from fourth-choice fly-half Stephen Donald were enough to see the All Blacks home in an extraordinary match that defied all pre-match predictions.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-08, volume=407, issue=8839, page=52, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= The new masters and commanders , passage=From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much.
  • Remarkably good.

    • Usage notes

    * Can be said of all kinds of objects including people, events, things, and terms. * The pronunciation "extrordinary" is often preferred so as to avoid confusion with "extra ordinary", which would be defined as "more ordinary than usual".

    Synonyms

    *

    Antonyms

    * everyday, normal, ordinary, regular, usual

    Derived terms

    * extraordinary optical transmission * extraordinary professor * extraordinary rendition

    unusual

    English

    Alternative forms

    * unusuall (obsolete)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Unlike what is expected; differing in some way from the norm.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town. I was completely mystified at such an unusual proceeding.}}
  • Not usual.

    • Synonyms

    * (different from the expected) abnormal, rare, strange, weird, (stronger) extraordinary ** See also

    Antonyms

    * (different from the expected) normal, usual