Word.ws English Dictionary

paragon

/ˈpæɹəɡən//ˈpæɹəˌɡɔn/

paragon noun: a person of preeminent qualities, who acts as a pattern or model for others.

paragon: a person of preeminent qualities, who acts as a pattern or model for others
Image: CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

paragon (plural paragons)

  1. A person of preeminent qualities, who acts as a pattern or model for others.
    • In the novel, Constanza is a paragon of virtue who would never compromise her reputation.
    • What a piece of worke is man! how Noble in Reaſon? […] the beauty of the world, the Parragon of Animals;c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
  2. (obsolete) A companion; a match; an equal.
    • Philoclea, who indeed had no paragon but her sistera. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London...
    • Nathlesse proud man himselfe the other deemed,
      Having so peerlesse paragon ygot1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
  3. (obsolete) Comparison; competition.
    • good by paragone / Of euill, may more notably be rad, / As white seemes fairer, macht with blacke attone […].1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
  4. (dated) The size of type between great primer and double pica, standardized as 20-point.
  5. A flawless diamond of at least 100 carats.
    • The "Koh-i-noor," or "Mountain of Light," is the eighth and smallest of these paragon diamonds (all diamonds weighing over a hundred carats are called Paragon); but it was originally the largest diamond ever known, weighing uncut 900 carats. . . this matchless gem of 900 carats which once belonged...November 1861, Anon ("E.L.L"), “Precious Stones”, in Temple Bar, volume III, page 377

Verb

paragon (third-person singular simple present paragons, present participle paragoning, simple past and past participle paragoned)

  1. To compare; to parallel; to put in rivalry or emulation with.
    • for want of a bigger , to paragon the little one with Artesia's lengtha. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London...
  2. To compare with; to equal; to rival.
    • Few or none could for Feature paragon with her, and much less excel her.1612–1620, [Miguel de Cervantes], translated by Thomas Shelton, The History of the Valorous and Wittie Knight-errant Don-Quixote of the Mancha. […], London: […] William Stansby, for Ed[ward] Blount...
    • In arms anon to paragon the morn, / The morn new-riſing, whoſe vermillion hand / Draws from the bright'ning front of heav'n ſerene / The humid curtains of tempeſtuous night, / Mardonius mounts his courſer.a. 1786, [Richard Glover], “Book the Twenty-seventh”, in [Mrs. Halsey], editor, The Athenaid, a Poem, […], volume III, London: […] T[homas] Cadell, […], published 1787, →OCLC, page 192, lines 539–543
  3. To serve as a model for; to surpass.
    • He hath achieved a maid / That paragons description and wild fame.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
  4. To be equal; to hold comparison.

paragon meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

paragon in Hindi

पैरागॉन, पैरागन

paragon in Tamil

நிறைசான்று

paragon in Marathi

पॅरॅगन, पॅरागॉन, पॅरॅगॉन

paragon in Urdu

جواب, مقابلہ
More languagesFewer languages
paragon in Bengali
আদর্শ, অতুলনীয় উদাহরণ
paragon in Telugu
మేలుబంతి mēlubanti
paragon in Malayalam
അതുല്യമാതൃക, ഉത്തമമാതൃക, ശിരോമണി, പ്രതിമ
paragon in Kannada
ಕುರಳು, ಆದರ್ಶ ಶಿರೋಮಣಿ, ಉತ್ಕೃಷ್ಟ ಮಾದರಿ, ಪರಿಶುದ್ಧ ವಜ್ರ
paragon in Punjabi
ਪੈਰਾਗਨ, ਪੈਰਾਗੌਨ, ਪੈਰਾਗੋਨ
paragon in Gujarati
પેરાગોન, પેરાગૉન
paragon in Nepali
प्यारागन, प्यारागोन
paragon in Indonesian
pedoman
paragon in Persian
نمونه nemune

Examples of paragon in a sentence

  • That thou might'st cherish for thine own / The riches of sweet Mary's son, / Boy-Rabbi, Israel's paragon.1847, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Threnody”, in Poems, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC, page 246:
  • Liz Cheney and her father are positioning themselves as protectors of the old order, as paragons of truth and as defenders of our American norms.2021 May 6, Charles M. Blow, “Liz Cheney, We Have a Memory. You’re No Hero.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
  • A paragon must embody liberal democracy.2023 February 11, Janan Ganesh, “After Germany’s fall, which is the paragon nation?”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd....

All 10 example sentences with paragon

Synonyms of paragon

All synonyms of paragon

Forms of paragon

Noun
pluralparagons
Verb
third-person singular presentparagons
present participleparagoning
past participleparagoned
pastparagoned

Plural of paragon: paragons

Origin of paragon

Borrowed from Middle French paragon, paragone, from Old Italian paragone, from paragonare (“to test on a touchstone”), perhaps from Ancient Greek παρακονᾶν (parakonân, “to sharpen, whet”), from παρά- (pará-) + ἀκόνη (akónē, “whetstone, sharpening stone”), from ἀκή (akḗ, “point, edge”) (from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”)).

Words formed from paragon

Questions about paragon

What does paragon mean?
Paragon means a person of preeminent qualities, who acts as a pattern or model for others.
What is paragon in Hindi?
Paragon in Hindi is पैरागॉन, पैरागन. See Paragon meaning in Hindi.
How do you use paragon in a sentence?
That thou might'st cherish for thine own / The riches of sweet Mary's son, / Boy-Rabbi, Israel's paragon.
What part of speech is paragon?
Paragon can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce paragon?
Paragon is pronounced /ˈpæɹəɡən/ (UK).
What is the plural of paragon?
The plural of paragon is paragons.

Words near paragon in the dictionary

  1. paragogically
  2. paragogies
  3. paragogue
  4. paragogues
  5. paragogy
  6. paragon
  7. paragoned
  8. paragonimiases
  9. paragonimiasis
  10. paragoning
  11. paragonite

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: paragon (page history and authors); paragon (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paragon (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); paragon (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paragon (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); paragon (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); paragon (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); paragon (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); paragon (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paragon (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paragon (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-paragon.wav, En-us-paragon.ogg.

Cite this entry: “paragon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/paragon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.