PARAGON

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does paragon mean? 

• PARAGON (noun)
  The noun PARAGON has 2 senses:

1. an ideal instance; a perfect embodiment of a concept

2. model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal

  Familiarity information: PARAGON used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PARAGON (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An ideal instance; a perfect embodiment of a concept

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

beau ideal; idol; paragon; perfection

Hypernyms ("paragon" is a kind of...):

ideal (the idea of something that is perfect; something that one hopes to attain)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "paragon"):

gold standard (a paragon of excellence)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

apotheosis; ideal; nonesuch; nonpareil; nonsuch; paragon; saint

Hypernyms ("paragon" is a kind of...):

model; role model (someone worthy of imitation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "paragon"):

crackerjack; jimdandy; jimhickey (someone excellent of their kind)

class act (someone who shows impressive and stylish excellence)

humdinger (someone of remarkable excellence)

 Context examples 

‘But this paragon has one fault.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)