sui generis
UK/ˌs(j)uː.aɪ ˈd͡ʒɛn.ə.ɹɪs/
sui generis adjective: in a class of its own; one of a kind.
Adjective
sui generis (not comparable)
- In a class of its own; one of a kind.
- It is easy to describe second-rate talents, because they fall into a class and enlist under a standard; but first-rate powers defy calculation or comparison, and can be defined only by themselves. They are sui generis, and make the class to which they belong.1821–1822, William Hazlitt, “Character of Cobbett”, in Table-Talk; or, Original Essays, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Warren; Henry Colburn and Co.
- The transcendent case before us is absolutely sui generis.1828, John Pye Smith, Four Discourses on the Sacrifice and Priesthood of Jesus Christ: and on Atonement and Redemption, page 67
- Synonyms:
- one of a kind, unique, original
Adverb
sui generis (not comparable)
- By itself; of its own.
- They came up with a program that the federal Minister of Agriculture and his provincial colleagues agreed was a good and appropriate approach to handling that particular problem. They did it sui generis.2003, Canada. Parliament. Senate. Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, Délibérations Du Comité Sénatorial Permanent Des Affaires Sociales, Des Sciences Et de la Technologie
- Another possibility is that the council acted sui generis and expressed a one-off view on the facts with no precedential significance.2014 August 7, Jonas Ebbesson, Marie Jacobsson, Mark Adam Klamberg, David Langlet, Pål Wrange, International Law and Changing Perceptions of Security: Liber Amicorum Said Mahmoudi, Hotei Publishing...
- Synonyms:
- per se
Noun
sui generis (plural (rare) sui genera)
- Something of its own kind; a thing apart.
- It is word-generated knowledge or knowledge by testimony ( K. T. for short ) – a sui generis.2013 June 29, Bimal K. Matilal, A. Chakrabarti, Knowing from Words: Western and Indian Philosophical Analysis of Understanding and Testimony, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 100
- Prior to the 1990s a large segment of New Testament scholarship maintained that the Gospels represent a sui generis, that is, a genre unique to them. This sui generis was viewed as a type of mythology.2020 May 21, Michael R Licona, The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach, Inter-Varsity Press, →ISBN
Examples of sui generis in a sentence
- The eminent Italian geologist, Stoppani, goes further than I had ventured to do, and treats the action of man as a new physical element altogether sui generis.1874, George P. Marsh, The Earth as Modified by Human Action:
- The system was neither free enterprise nor socialism; it was sui generis, one of the unique creations of the Middle Ages.1994, Frances and Joseph Gies, “The Technology of the Commercial Revolution”, in Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel, →ISBN, page 111:
- We see him as he sees himself, surveying the invisible depths of ethical space, with all the distinction of a specialist in the sui generis.1995, J.L. Austin, How To Do Things With Words:
- Based on Phoebe Gloeckner’s remarkable, sui generis semi-autobiographical graphic novel, […]2015 August 6, Leslie Felperin, “The Diary of a Teenage Girl review – a scaldingly honest coming-of-age comedy”, in The Guardian, archived...
Synonyms of sui generis
Forms of sui generis
| plural (rare) | sui genera |
|---|
Origin of sui generis
Borrowed from Latin suī generis (literally “of its own kind/class”).
Questions about sui generis
- What does sui generis mean?
- Sui generis means in a class of its own; one of a kind.
- How do you use sui generis in a sentence?
- The eminent Italian geologist, Stoppani, goes further than I had ventured to do, and treats the action of man as a new physical element altogether sui generis.
- What part of speech is sui generis?
- Sui generis can be an adjective, an adverb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce sui generis?
- Sui generis is pronounced /ˌs(j)uː.aɪ ˈd͡ʒɛn.ə.ɹɪs/ (UK).
Words near sui generis in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sui generis (page history and authors). 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)-Persent101-sui generis.wav.
Cite this entry: “sui generis.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sui_generis. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.