different between unique vs nutty

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French unique.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ju??ni?k/
• Rhymes: -i?k

Adjective

unique (comparative uniquer or more unique, superlative uniquest or most unique)

1. (not comparable) Being the only one of its kind; unequaled, unparalleled or unmatched.

   Synonyms: one of a kind, sui generis, singular

2. Of a feature, such that only one holder has it.
3. Particular, characteristic.
4. (proscribed) Of a rare quality, unusual.

Usage notes

• The comparative and superlative forms uniquer or more unique and uniquest or most unique, as well as the use of unique with modifiers as in fairly unique and very unique, are grammatically proscribed, with the reasoning that either something is unique or it is not.

Derived terms

• uniquely
• uniqueness
• uniquity

Related terms

• unicity
• one-of-a-kind
• inimitable

Translations

Noun

unique (plural uniques)

1. A thing without a like; something unequalled or unparallelled; one of a kind.
   • a. 1859, Thomas De Quincey, Language

     The phoenix, the unique of birds.

Translations

Further reading

• unique in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• unique in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• “unique” in Roget's Thesaurus, T. Y. Crowell Co., 1911.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ?nicus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /y.nik/

Adjective

unique (plural uniques)

1. unique
2. only

Derived terms

Related terms

• un

Descendants

• ? Danish: unik
• ? Dutch: uniek
• ? Norwegian Bokmål: unik
• ? Norwegian Nynorsk: unik
• ? Swedish: unik
• ? Turkish: ünik

Further reading

• “unique” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Etymology

nut +? -y

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?ti/
• Rhymes: -?ti

Adjective

nutty (comparative nuttier, superlative nuttiest)

1. Containing nuts.

2. Resembling or characteristic of nuts.
   • 1997, Mary Jo Plutt, Prevention's Stop Dieting and Lose Weight Cookbook, Rodale, ?ISBN, p. 210:

     Brown rice has had only its outer hull removed, leaving it with a beige color and a a pleasantly nutty flavor.

3. Barmy, crazy, mad.

4. (Britain, dated) Extravagantly fashionable
   • 1932, Frank Richards, "The Complete Outsider", The Magnet

     Skinner's friendship with his nutty pals seemed to have come to a sudden end.

Usage notes

In sense “insane”, similar to nuts, but more limited and somewhat milder: nutty means “eccentric, insane”, while “nuts” can mean either “insane” or “enthused, agitated” (“the crowd went nuts”), for which “nutty” is not used: *“the crowd went nutty”.

Synonyms

• nuts, squirrelly
• See also Thesaurus:insane

Related terms

• nutter
• nutty as a fruitcake

Translations