of a distinct or particular kind or character: a special kind of key.
being a particular one; particular, individual, or certain: You'd better call the special number.
pertaining or peculiar to a particular person, thing, instance, etc.; distinctive; unique: the special features of a plan.
having a specific or particular function, purpose, etc.: a special messenger.
distinguished or different from what is ordinary or usual: a special occasion; to fix something special.
extraordinary; exceptional, as in amount or degree; especial: special importance.
being such in an exceptional degree; particularly valued: a special friend.
pertaining to people with singular needs or disabilities, or to their education: disabled students with special needs; state funding for special schools.
noun
a special person or thing.
a train used for a particular purpose, occasion, or the like.
a special edition of a newspaper.
Theater. a spotlight reserved for a particular area, property, actor, etc.: Give me the coffin special.
a temporary, arbitrary reduction in the price of regularly stocked goods, especially food; a particularly worthwhile offer or price: The special this week is on sirloin steaks.
Television. a single program not forming part of a regular series.
Origin of special
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English (adjective), from Latin speciālis “of a given species,” equivalent to speci(ēs) “form, kind, sort” + -ālis adjective suffix; see species, -al1, especial
SYNONYMS FOR special
5 singular.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR special ON THESAURUS.COM
ANTONYMS FOR special
1 general.
SEE ANTONYMS FOR special ON THESAURUS.COM
synonym study for special
5. Special,particular,specific refer to something pointed out for attention and consideration. Special means given unusual treatment because of being uncommon: a special sense of a word.Particular implies something selected from the others of its kind and set off from them for attention: a particular variety of orchid.Specific implies plain and unambiguous indication of a particular instance, example, etc.: a specific instance of cowardice.
usage note for special
In American English the adjective special is overwhelmingly more common than especial in all senses: He will be of special help if you can't understand the documentation. The reverse is true of the adverbs; here especially is by far the more common: He will be of great help, especially if you have trouble understanding the documentation. Only when the sense “specifically” is intended is specially more idiomatic: The machine was specially designed for use by a left-handed operator.
Bradford hustled, advertising her specials on Facebook and calling around to nonprofits and municipal agencies, asking if anyone needed food delivered.
The Big Corporate Rescue and the America That’s Too Small to Save|by Lydia DePillis, Justin Elliott and Paul Kiel|September 12, 2020|ProPublica
GW Ori has long been an exemplar for all the special dynamical effects that go on in such a system.
A strange dusty disk could hide a planet betwixt three stars|Paola Rosa-Aquino|September 11, 2020|Popular Science
The rider with the most such points at the end of the Tour is named “King of the Mountains” and gets to wear a special polka dot jersey.
Can You Reach The Summit First?|Zach Wissner-Gross|September 11, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
There are special places like that, like Floriana up the street, or Martin’s Tavern over in Georgetown.
We owe it to places like the Tabard Inn|Brock Thompson|September 11, 2020|Washington Blade
The congressional model uses 265 variables in the House and 201 in the Senate spanning each non-special congressional election from 2006 until 2020.
The Forecast: The Methodology Behind Our 2020 Election Model|Daniel Malloy|September 10, 2020|Ozy
All of the big cats have a special mystique, but perhaps none more so than the tiger.
This Tiger Has Some Serious Ups|Jack Holmes, The Daily Beast Video|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
After the release of the trailer for the special last week, TLC received a requisite and perhaps well-deserved tongue-lashing.
Your Husband Is Definitely Gay: TLC’s Painful Portrait of Mormonism|Samantha Allen|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Special praise goes to Kudrow for the way she broadened the scope of Valerie Cherish in Season 2.
‘The Comeback’ Finale: Give Lisa Kudrow All of the Awards|Kevin Fallon|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Relays are special computers that Tor uses to anonymously transmit traffic across the Internet.
The Attack on the Hidden Internet|Marc Rogers|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He had a special knife designed to cut the dense loaf, and a ceremony to precede cutting the cake.
One Cake to Rule Them All: How Stollen Stole Our Hearts|Molly Hannon|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Each had her special family recipes, and they took pride in comparing them.
The Retrospect|Ada Cambridge
A study has also been made of standard designs for freight-cars of special types, such as tank-cars, steel-cars, and the like.
Our Railroads To-Morrow|Edward Hungerford
Captain Crowe had fancied that Mrs. Lunn had shown him special favor that afternoon, and ventured to think himself secure.
The Life of Nancy|Sarah Orne Jewett
The bully of the music-hall shouting "Jingo" had his special audience.
The Whirlpool|George Gissing
When you thus understand well the nature of the covenant, labour to understand the special reasons of it.
A Christian Directory|Baxter Richard
British Dictionary definitions for special
special
/ (ˈspɛʃəl) /
adjective
distinguished, set apart from, or excelling others of its kind
(prenominal)designed or reserved for a particular purposea special tool for working leather
not usual or commonplace
(prenominal)particular or primaryhis special interest was music
denoting or relating to the education of physically or mentally handicapped childrena special school
noun
a special person or thing, such as an extra edition of a newspaper or a train reserved for a particular purpose
a dish or meal given prominence, esp at a low price, in a café, etc
Australianhistoryslanga convict given special treatment on account of his education, social class, etc
short for special constable
Australian, NZ, US and Canadianinformalan item in a store that is advertised at a reduced price; a loss leader
verb-cials, -ciallingor-cialled(tr)
NZinformalto advertise and sell (an item) at a reduced pricewe are specialling butter this week
Derived forms of special
specially, adverbspecialness, noun
Word Origin for special
C13: from Old French especial, from Latin speciālis individual, special, from speciēs appearance, species