Word.ws English Dictionary

special

Syllables: spe·cialUK/ˈspɛʃ.əl/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/ˈspeʃ.əl/

special adjective: distinguished by a unique, particular, or unusual quality.

Adjective

special (comparative more special or specialer, superlative most special or specialest)

  1. Distinguished by a unique, particular, or unusual quality.
    • a special episode of a television series
    • her special blend of spices
  2. Of particular value or interest; dear; beloved.
    • Everyone is special to someone.
    • his special friend of many years, Bill
  3. Of or related to unconventional warfare.
    • special forces, special operations
  4. Appointed specifically to examine a single event or issue.
    • For the few times the U.S. Supreme Court has to actually try a case, they will appoint a special master to do so.
    • After the Watergate break in, a special prosecutor was appointed.
  5. Constituting or relating to a species.
    • Having seven dark spots is a special property unique to Coccinella septempunctata.
    Synonyms:
    specific
  6. (euphemistic, not comparable) Of or related to disabilities, especially learning or intellectual disabilities.
    • special education, special needs
    • He goes to a special school.
    1. (broadly, comparable, derogatory, euphemistic, not comparable, offensive) Stupid, lacking intelligence.
      • What do you mean, you don't understand the sign? What are you, special?
  7. (euphemistic, not comparable) Of, being, or pertaining to sexual intercourse or the genitals.
    • The parents told the kids not to bother them during special time.
    • The girl said the man had tried to touch her special place.
  8. (euphemistic, not comparable) Infused with a drug, especially marijuana; being an edible.
    • This book will help you to […] • Cook with the confidence that the neighbors won't find out your brownies are 'special' • Never again worry about getting caught growing because someone smelled your garden2012 November 1, Klyde, How To Hide The Smell Of Weed, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 9
    • Then with the rest of the money I use it to pay for the building, maintenance, utilities, up keep, and the special brownies! In addition, I have bongs that the parishioners can use if they forget to bring their own bongs for smoking.2020 March 19, I. D. Oro, Mexico Wall 130, I. D. Oro, page 136

Noun

special (plural specials)

  1. A reduction in consumer cost (usually for a limited time) for items or services rendered; the thing thus sold.
    • We're running a special on turkey for Thanksgiving.
    • I didn't have much money, so I bought the special.
    Synonyms:
    offer
  2. A meal offered only at a certain time by a restaurant, not as a standing fixture of the menu; often, one of a rotation of meals systematically offered for a lower price; also often a dish at a nondiscounted price that is seasonal or otherwise exciting or unusual.
    • Today's dinner special is wild salmon, which we don't normally get a chance to offer.
    • The Tuesday lunch special is our tuna melt on rye.
  3. Unusual or exceptional episode of a series.
    • Did you see the Christmas special?
  4. (UK, colloquial) A special constable.
    • And you can't trust a "Special" like the old-time copper when you can't find your way home.1919, Fred W. Leigh, Charles Collins, “My Old Man”performed by Marie Lloyd
  5. Anything that is not according to normal practice, plan, or schedule, as an unscheduled run of transportation that is normally scheduled.
    • Thousands came to see the special that carried the President's coffin.
  6. Any unlicensed medicine produced or obtained for a specific individual patient.
  7. (pinball) An award, typically a free game, that is made available to the player upon reaching or completing a major objective in a pinball game.
  8. A journalist sent to the scene of an event to report back.
  9. A dispatch sent back by a special correspondent.
  10. A light that illuminates a specific person or thing on the stage.
    • In addition to followspots, there will be three frontlight specials on Autoyokes hung on the truss to provide frontlight specials.2009, Steven Shelley, A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting, page 132
    • The first is a special—a single lighting instrument that lights a particular spot on the stage. Specials generally have no color, or a more saturated color, allowing them to stand out through other lighting onstage.2009, Jennifer Bringle, Lighting, page 23
  11. One of certain mixed-breed dogs.
    • Singapore Special; Darwin special
  12. A racehorse predicted to win; a sure thing.
    • "How's your horse going to go Fatty?" My replies included, "It's a special." "Get on. It can't be beaten."1995, Paul Vautin, Turn It Up!, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, page 146

Verb

special (third-person singular simple present specials, present participle (US) specialing or (UK) specialling, simple past and past participle (US) specialed or (UK) specialled)

  1. (nursing) To supervise a patient one-on-one.
    • We have not sent our pupils out on private duty except a very few times, but they have an unusual amount of specialing to do inside.1905, Shadyside Hospital (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Annual Report, page 27
    • Participant three described their personal interest in mental health care: “I have an interest in mental health but I have found that other staff on the surgical ward who have been there for a while… often say I hate specialling these patients…”2015 July 7, Jo-Ann Giandinoto, Karen-leigh Edward, “The phenomenon of co-morbid physical and mental illness in acute medical care: the lived experience of Australian health professionals”, in BMC...

special meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

special in Hindi

distinguished by a unique or unusual quality
विशिष्ट viśiṣṭ, ख़ास xās, विशेष viśeṣ

special in Tamil

சிறப்பு, சிறப்பான

special in Marathi

distinguished by a unique or unusual quality
विशेष viśeṣ
(TV, radio) unusual or exceptional episode of a series
विशेष कार्यक्रम viśeṣ kāryakram

special in Urdu

distinguished by a unique or unusual quality
خاص xās, مخصوص maxsūs
More languagesFewer languages
special in Bengali
বিশেষ biśeś
special in Telugu
ప్రత్యేకము pratyēkamu
special in Malayalam
പ്രത്യേക pratyēka
special in Kannada
ತನಿಬಗೆಯ, ಅಸಾಮಾನ್ಯವಾದದ್ದು, ಅಸಾಧಾರಣವಾದದ್ದು, ವಿಶೇಷತೆಯುಳ್ಳದ್ದು
special in Punjabi
ਖ਼ਾਸ xās, ਨਵੇਕਲ਼ਾ navekḷā
special in Gujarati
ખાસ, વિશેષ
special in Odia
ସ୍ୱତନ୍ତ୍ର
special in Sanskrit
असाधारण asādhāraṇa, यत्न yatna
special in Assamese
ৱিশেষ wixex
special in Nepali
विशेष
special in Pashto
مخصوص maxsús, خاص xās, خصوصي xosusí
special in Arabic
خَاصّ ḵāṣṣ, خُصُوصِيّ ḵuṣūṣiyy
special in Malay
istimewa, khas, khusus, tawaran khas
special in Indonesian
khusus, istimewa, khas, spesial
special in Persian
استثنایی estesnâyi, ویژه viže, خاص xâs, مخصوص maxsus
special in Thai
พิเศษ pí-sèet
special in Vietnamese
đặc biệt, giảm giá đặc biệt
special in Myanmar
ထူး htu:

Examples of special in a sentence

  • In computing, pi characters may be entered with special key combinations.
  • No, not that one. That's my good shirt I only wear for special occasions.
  • The movie had great special effects, but the dialogue was lackluster.

All 40 example sentences with special

Synonyms of special

Antonyms

Forms of special

Adjective
comparativemore special
comparativespecialer
superlativemost special
superlativespecialest
Noun
pluralspecials
Verb
third-person singular presentspecials
present participle USspecialing
present participle UKspecialling
past participle USspecialed
past USspecialed
past participle UKspecialled
past UKspecialled

Plural of special: specials

Origin of special

From Middle English *special, especial, especiall, from Old French especial (whence also French spécial), from Latin speciālis (from speciēs). In this sense displaced native Old English synderlīċ. Doublet of especial.

Words formed from special

Phrases with special

115 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with special

Questions about special

What does special mean?
Special means distinguished by a unique, particular, or unusual quality.
What is special in Hindi?
Special in Hindi is विशिष्ट (viśiṣṭ), ख़ास (xās), विशेष (viśeṣ). See Special meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is special?
Special can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce special?
Special is pronounced /ˈspɛʃ.əl/ (UK).

Words near special in the dictionary

  1. speccing up
  2. speccy
  3. Spece
  4. Speces
  5. SPECI
  6. special
  7. special administrative region
  8. special administrative regions
  9. special agent
  10. special agents
  11. Special Air Service

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: special (page history and authors); special (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ప్రత్యేకము (Telugu) (page history and authors); പ്രത്യേക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); special (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਖ਼ਾਸ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); special (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); special (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); असाधारण (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); ৱিশেষ (Assamese) (page history and authors); special (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: En-us-special.ogg.

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