different between prodigious vs exceptional

English

Etymology

From Middle French prodigieux, from Latin pr?digi?sus (“unnatural, strange, wonderful, marvelous”), from pr?digium (“an omen, portent, monster”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p???d?d???s/
• Rhymes: -?d??s

Adjective

prodigious (comparative more prodigious, superlative most prodigious)

1. Very big in size or quantity; gigantic; colossal; huge.
2. Extraordinarily exciting or amazing.
3. (obsolete) Ominous, portentous.
4. Monstrous; freakish.

Synonyms

• gigantic, colossal, huge, enormous; See also Thesaurus:gigantic
• amazing
• ominous, portentous

Derived terms

• prodigiously

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• prodigious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• prodigious in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• prodigious at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Etymology

exception +? -al

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?s?p??n?l/
• Hyphenation: ex?cep?tion?al

Adjective

exceptional (comparative more exceptional, superlative most exceptional)

1. Forming an exception; not ordinary; uncommon; rare.

   What an exceptional flower!

2. Better than the average; superior due to exception or rarity.

   The quality of the beer was exceptional.

3. (geometry) Corresponding to something of lower dimension under a birational correspondence.

   an exceptional curve; an exceptional divisor

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:excellent
• egregious (most often used negatively, however)

Antonyms

• (forming an exception): ordinary, categorical, common, general, usual
• (superior due to exception or rarity): ordinary, mediocre, commonplace

Derived terms

• exceptional space
• exceptionally
• exceptionalism

Translations

Noun

exceptional (plural exceptionals)

1. An exception, or something having an exceptional value
   • 1909, Pediatrics (volume 21, page 276)

     Above and beyond all these exceptionals, by reason of divergencies from the norms of mental and of physical status, there are quite a number of moral defectives.