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凡ならざる (bonnarazaru) Japanese meaning: extraordinary | Kotomora

凡ぼんならざる

Meanings

1

pre-noun adjectival

extraordinary; uncommon; rare

Literary pre-noun adjectival meaning 'not ordinary' or 'exceptional'. Used in formal or written language to describe something remarkable or unusual.

彼かれは凡ぼんならざる才さい能のうの持もち主ぬしだ。
He is a person of extraordinary talent.
この作さく品ひんには凡ぼんならざる美うつくしさがある。
This work has an uncommon beauty.

Kanji

凡commonplace, ordinary, mediocre

Related words

非ひ凡ぼん
非凡 is a more common and neutral term for 'extraordinary' or 'remarkable', while 凡ならざる is a literary, classical-sounding expression.
並なみ々なみならぬ
並々ならぬ also means 'extraordinary' or 'uncommon', but is slightly less formal and more widely used in modern Japanese.

Etymology

From 凡 (bon, 'ordinary') + ならざる (narazaru, classical negative form of なり, 'to be'), literally 'not being ordinary'. The form ならざる is a literary remnant of classical Japanese.