transcendent
/tɹæn(t)ˈsɛndənt/
transcendent means surpassing usual limits. It carries an Arena rating of 1837, earned across 41 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, transcendent ranks #415 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #810 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words, #2,165 of 42,747 for Qualifying, #4,076 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words.
transcendent is pronounced /tɹæn(t)ˈsɛndənt/.
Why “transcendent” is a great word
Surpassing usual limits, existing in a supreme, extraordinary, or non-ordinary realm. From Latin trānscendēns, present participle of trānscendere ("to climb over, surpass"), from trāns- ("over, beyond") + scandere ("to climb"), first attested in English in the mid-15th century. Unlike "transcendental," which often tethers itself to the necessary conditions of experience, or "superlative," which merely tops a ranked list, "transcendent" vaults clean off the scale of comparison altogether. It is the choir's note that shivers the stained glass, the solution that arrives as a sudden, silent dawn, the vista from a peak that renders the arduous climb meaningless—an ascent so complete that the ladder itself is left behind.
Etymology
From transcend + -ent, or borrowed from Latin trānscendēns.
adj
- Surpassing usual limits.e.g.“In sculpture and in the drama, in Aristophanic farce and in hieratic rituals, in pictorial art and in the stream of literature, the phallus is transcendent.” — 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page iii:
- Supreme in excellence.e.g.“Both stood silent, gazing on each other; Walter was actually lost in admiration of Lady Marchmont's transcendent beauty.” — 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Letters Restored”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 218:
- Beyond the range of usual perception.
- Free from constraints of the material world.
noun
- That which surpasses or is supereminent; something excellent.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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