sui generis

adjective

sui ge·​ner·​is ˌsü-ˌī-ˈje-nə-rəs  ˌsü-ē-ˈje- 

-ˈge-

: constituting a class alone : unique, peculiar

Did you know?

English contains many terms that ultimately trace back to the Latin forms gener- or "genus" (which are variously translated as "birth," "race," "kind," and "class"). Offspring of those roots include "general," "generate," "generous," "generic," "degenerate," and "gender." But "sui generis" is truly a one-of-a-kind "gener-" descendant that English speakers have used for singular things since the late 1600s. Its earliest uses were in scientific contexts, where it identified substances, principles, diseases, and even rocks that were unique or that seemed to be the only representative of their class or group. By the early 1900s, however, "sui generis" had expanded beyond solely scientific contexts, and it is now used more generally for anything that stands alone.

Synonyms

• alone
• lone
• one
• one-off
• only
• singular
• sole
• solitary
• special
• unique

Examples of sui generis in a Sentence

among history's greats Leonardo da Vinci is often considered sui generis—a man of such stupendous genius that the world may never see his like again

Recent Examples on the Web

The alchemical match between director and DP remains one of the defining collaborations of Lynch’s career, with Elmes crystallizing Lynch’s nightmarish and entirely sui generis vision of the American underbelly in all those films. —Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 18 Jan. 2025

There is a good case to be made, therefore, that each of these country-level crises is sui generis. —Shantayanan Devarajan, Foreign Affairs, 4 Aug. 2022

But the project’s early promise has been soured by China’s failure to reach a consensus with the region’s major power and to answer serious questions about whether its handling of Sri Lanka is sui generis or symptomatic of its general approach. —Andrew Small, Foreign Affairs, 16 Feb. 2018

And, what the heck is the matter of being sui generis anyway? —Jim Cramer, CNBC, 5 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin, of its own kind

First Known Use

1615, in the meaning defined above

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Legal Definition

sui generis

adjective

sui ge·​ner·​is ˈsü-ˌī-ˈje-nə-rəs, ˈsü-ē- 

: constituting a class alone : unique or particular to itself

the lawyer's…ad that makes no distinction among various legal and factual nuances in each sui generis case has the potential to mislead

—National Law Journal

Etymology

Latin, of its own kind