Meaning & use
incomparable
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparableapproving
So excellent or unusual that nothing else is good enough to be compared with it.
Grammar: Because it already means beyond comparison, it is not normally used with more or most: an incomparable view, not a more incomparable view.
Patterns
- incomparable beauty
- be incomparable in something
The singer's incomparable voice filled the hall.
The view from the summit was incomparable.
She had an incomparable talent for making people feel welcome.
adjectiveafter a verbformal
So different in kind that two things cannot be measured against each other.
Grammar: Often used with to or with: An is incomparable with B.
Patterns
- incomparable with something
- incomparable to something
The two economies are so different that they are incomparable.
Medieval and modern warfare are incomparable with each other in many ways.
Common combinations
- incomparable beauty
- The valley was admired for its incomparable beauty.
- incomparable talent
- The pianist's incomparable talent won her a standing ovation.
- truly incomparable
- The craftsmanship in the old violin is truly incomparable.
- incomparable skill
- He played with incomparable skill.
- incomparable to
- The pleasure of reading a physical book is incomparable to scrolling a screen.
Synonyms and how they differ
- unrivaled
- Unrivaled stresses that there is no competitor, while incomparable stresses that nothing can be compared to it.
- matchless
- Matchless is more literary and suggests no equal can be found.
- peerless
- Peerless suggests a person or thing has no equal in rank or ability, and is more formal than incomparable.
- unique
- Unique means the only one of its kind, not necessarily the best, whereas incomparable is nearly always praise.
Opposites
Word family
- incomparably adverb
- by far; beyond comparison
- comparable adjective
- similar enough to be compared
- compare verb
- to examine how things are alike or different
- comparison noun
- the act of comparing
Commonly confused: incomparable or incomprehensible?
incomparable vs incomprehensible
Incomprehensible means impossible to understand, while incomparable means impossible to compare.
Practice
Critics described the chef's soup as ____ because nothing else they had tasted came close.
Choose one answer.
Incomparable means beyond comparison, matching the critics' view. The other words look similar but mean not able to work together, unfinished, and unskilled.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “incomparable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.