# Word for "one-of-a-kind person" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 26, 2022, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186 "2022-05-26T23:17:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2022, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186/21 "2022-05-27T22:25:30Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > rara avis? Well, thanks for that one. That’s going into my word/phrase bank. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2022, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186/22 "2022-05-27T22:26:47Z")
And – apropos of nothing – my wife and I absolutely loved our time there: [https://www.rara-avis.com/](https://www.rara-avis.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2022, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186/23 "2022-05-27T22:48:56Z")
Unique Individual ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2022, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186/24 "2022-05-27T23:08:55Z")
“The Dean” Examples: All the stories are written Craig T. Wright, [the Dean of Baseball Storytellers,](https://shop.collectedworksbookstore.com/book/9780879465155) [Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called [the “dean of science fiction writers](https://nebulas.sfwa.org/grand-masters/robert-heinlein/),” he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre in his time. Longtime Bay Area food writer John Birdsall, who recently relocated to Tucson, turned his attention to “[the dean of cookery](https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimwesterman/2020/12/12/10-bay-area-holiday-gifts-for-your-favorite-foodies/?sh=7634e98946b5),” James Beard, one of the least understood and most beloved culinary figures of the 20th century. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2022, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186/25 "2022-05-27T23:10:00Z")
No, like I said, SAT words, or college-level words. Sui generis and nonpareil and rara avis all are in the ballpark (as are cynosure and apotheosis, maybe quintessence.) And “iconoclast.” I think I was thinking of the word “iconoclast” and crossed it in my brain with the adjective phrase _sui generis_. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2022, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186/26 "2022-05-27T23:12:05Z")
avatar? ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2022, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186/27 "2022-05-27T23:25:43Z")
“[Ijin](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%81%89%E4%BA%BA)”? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2022, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186/28 "2022-05-27T23:39:33Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > “[Ijin](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%81%89%E4%BA%BA)” Not an English word according to the _Oxford English Dictionary_ (which does have sui generis, avatar, nonpareil and so on) ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186/29 "2022-05-28T00:02:25Z")
“English” was not actually a specified requirement. (Nor was “common,” “likely” _or_ “plausible.” 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186/30 "2022-05-28T00:17:07Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > While I did say “perhaps stands out” I didn’t mean in an exemplary way, as in being better than everyone else, but more so blazing their own trail, like a maverick, or just being quirky and idiosyncratic. Not an SAT word, but “standout” itself is a noun that somewhat qualifies. A standout is something that is conspicuous for its difference, not necessarily better than everything else, but it can also mean that. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186/31 "2022-05-28T00:21:45Z")
I mean, sure. I was just looking for a more Poindexter-ish word. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186/32 "2022-05-28T00:28:55Z")
vanguard, avant garde ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186/33 "2022-05-28T01:10:12Z")
Fine, call them a Cecil. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186/34 "2022-05-28T02:01:10Z")
Maverik, as someone else about suggested ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186/35 "2022-05-28T02:07:12Z")
Mentioned by me, in the OP. Like I said, I’m satisfied that “sui generis” is the word I was thinking obliquely of. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186/36 "2022-05-28T03:24:47Z")
Fancyclopedia. > The title Dean of Science Fiction was first applied to Murray Leinster by Time Magazine in a May 30, 1949, article: “In the U.S., Will F. Jenkins, a 27-year veteran, who also writes under the pen name of Murray Leinster, is regarded as the dean of writers in the field.” Leinster noted that he was “called ‘Dean’ of science fiction writers by virtue of my having outlived a number of better men.” ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186/37 "2022-05-28T03:58:59Z")
I can get behind this🤭 ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186/38 "2022-05-28T04:38:49Z")
Pip ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186/39 "2022-05-28T13:20:41Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, I came up with all of those in the thesaurus. Sui generis is most likely the word my brain was trying to think of. And now, for the life of me, I can’t remember why I was trying to think of that word. I _love_ it when that happens. NOT!! Brains be weird. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2022, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186/40 "2022-05-28T13:27:09Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > “The Dean” I was loading up my 205 straight skis from the 80’s onto my Barcrafter ski rack on my '71 BMW, and some hipster walks by and says, “Dude! You are Old-School!” I turned around and in a Steven Wright Deadpan said, “Dude. I’m The Superintendent of Old-School.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-one-of-a-kind-person/965186.md?page=3)