Meaning & use
extraordinary experience
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
an event or situation that is very unusual and memorable, often strongly affecting you.
Grammar: Countable: you can say an extraordinary experience or extraordinary experiences.
Patterns
- an extraordinary experience
- have an extraordinary experience
- an extraordinary experience of something
Living with a host family in Japan was an extraordinary experience.
She described the surgery as an extraordinary experience that changed her view of life.
For most students, seeing the pyramids up close is an extraordinary experience.
noununcountable
the state of going through something very unusual over a period of time.
Grammar: Uncountable here: talk about experience as a general idea, not a single event.
Patterns
- of extraordinary experience
- a person of extraordinary experience
The job calls for someone of extraordinary experience in disaster relief.
Her book is based on years of extraordinary experience in the Arctic.
He brings a rare level of extraordinary experience to the team.
Word forms
| plural | extraordinary experiences |
|---|
Common combinations
- truly extraordinary experience
- The whole trip was a truly extraordinary experience.
- have an extraordinary experience
- Visitors often have an extraordinary experience at the night market.
- an extraordinary experience for someone
- It was an extraordinary experience for a young reporter.
- describe something as an extraordinary experience
- He described the rescue as an extraordinary experience.
Synonyms and how they differ
- unforgettable experience
- This stresses that you will always remember it, while 'extraordinary' stresses that it is far from ordinary.
- once-in-a-lifetime experience
- This means it happens only once; an extraordinary experience may be repeated.
- amazing experience
- More informal and emotional; it often means very good rather than very unusual.
Opposites
Word family
- extraordinarily adverb
- In a very unusual or surprising way.
- extraordinariness noun
- The quality of being very unusual.
- experienced adjective
- Having knowledge or skill from doing something over time.
Commonly confused: extraordinary experience or extra ordinary experience?
extraordinary experience vs extra ordinary experience
Write 'extraordinary' as one word; 'extra ordinary' would mean an additional ordinary thing.
Practice
Choose the best sentence.
Choose one answer.
'Extraordinary' begins with a vowel sound, so use 'an'. 'A' is wrong before a vowel sound, and 'the' suggests a specific known experience that has not been mentioned.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “extraordinary experience”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.