sui generis
1
9.9
- adjective
- /ˌsuːi ˈdʒɛnərɪs/
- Formal
:
sui generis
- Her artistic style is truly sui generis, setting her apart from all other painters.
- council sui generis
It is this sui generis, you know, totally unique thing.
- It is this sui generis, you know, totally unique thing.
- He's a monastic author who also is kind of sui generis, you know, his, his, his own thing.
- I feel like there's maybe space for beginning to treat it as its own unique sui generis like type of organization.
Examples
-
While the general wisdom of factors affecting treaty ratification is relevant, the sui generis characteristics of the GCC states help develop more nuanced factors to understand treaty ratification and its effects.
Academic text (2016) -
Despite the fact that the intifada is to a large extent sui generis, its analysis has wider implications for intercommunal and low-intensity conflict.
Academic text (1991) -
There, international relations is not studied as a sui generis space with its own mechanisms.
Academic text (1995) -
It is this sui generis, you know, totally unique thing.
-
Hence, the status of veterans, sui generis, is controversial.
Academic text (1996) -
Each watershed studied is sui generis in terms of physical setting, history, political culture, state and local laws, and leadership.
Academic text (2006) -
Although this whole scheme is sui generis, the major difference between the European and post-referendum Canadian context lies in numbers.
Academic text (2006) -
Ahmadinejad is a political phenomenon sui generis in many respects.
Academic text (2007) -
In short, critics of Turkey as a model claim that the Turkish experience is sui generis and cannot be transplanted.
Academic text (2005) -
Wiesel next asserted that tragedies should never be compared, for each was sui generis.
Academic text (1998)
Synonyms
∞
3.5
The only one of its kind
66
3.6
Only one thing or person like it exists
34
5.6
The only one of its kind
Antonyms
How Unique
Surface Forms
Morphology
sui + generis
The phrase is a literal Latin composition meaning 'of its own kind' (sui = of itself/own; generis = kind/class), so its meaning is directly derivable from the constituents. Although the components are Latin and not commonly known to B1 learners in English, the semantic combination is compositional and predictable for anyone who knows the constituent meanings.
Etymology
Sui generis comes from two Latin words, sui meaning 'of itself' and generis meaning 'of a kind'. So sui generis describes something that belongs only to itself and is 'unique' or 'in a class of its own'.