Specific word to describe someone who is so good that isn't even considered in say a classification

Question

When someone says "He's the best", or "he is definitely first". But there is someone else who is better and when some other subject considers him/her and asks "what about -name-?", is replied with something like "Yeah dude he/she is a god, it doesn't even count.". I mean when people start counting after that person because they're so good..

Example: Michael Phelps, he says Rio was his last Olympics right? Next Olympics, when someone says "CompetitorName is the best" as in he'll win, someone else might say "Phelps is still better", and be replied with "yeah he doesn't count", not as in "he isn't here, hence he can't win" but as "he is so damn good he doesn't even count".

Is there an actual word to describe this? Excellent means good, etc.. The closest thing I can think of is is the expression "out of the spectrum". Hope you can understand what I'm asking.

Thank you.

The exact word you want might be nonpareil. But it's not a very common word. — stangdon, Oct 18 '16 at 17:40
"In a league of their own" would work here, although not a single word. You might also consider "without equal" and "untouchable". — Shaggy, Oct 18 '16 at 20:43

score 62 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 19 '16 at 04:59

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You might use the phrase "to be in a different league."

A: This guy is one of the fastest runners I've ever seen!

B: Is he better than Usain Bolt?

A: Well, Bolt's in a different league.

A common variation on this is "in a league of his own," which may fit your question even better. It means, "Far excelling even the closest contender; not having any worthy competition."

edited Oct 19 '16 at 04:59

Wildcard

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answered Oct 18 '16 at 18:03

cbh

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Everyone seems to be trying to find a word meaning the best or greatest, but only this answer includes the part about excluding them for being so good (so far). – Ryan Oct 18 '16 at 19:20
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Common variation on this: "Bolt is in a league of his own." – plast1k Oct 18 '16 at 19:42
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I think the variation given by @plast1k is more applicable for the question. I recommend editing it into the answer—I've proposed an edit. :) – Wildcard Oct 19 '16 at 04:45
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Another variant commonly used in speech, and usually in informal situations, goes something like, He's/she's in a whole 'nother league. There are similar additional variants. – Jim Reynolds Oct 20 '16 at 05:42
@JimReynolds: That's a US-specific variant from what I can tell (as well as being grammatically incorrect!) – Lightness Races in Orbit Oct 20 '16 at 09:02
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@Lig What's your definition of grammatical correctness? And upon what grammar (there are many) do you make such a judgment? You may be confusing grammaticality with formality, or not recognize that grammar takes context and genre into account. Such an utterance as the one I mention above is quite commonly accepted in Standard English. Its register matches quite closely with the OP's yeah he doesn't count. I'm not aware of any difference between Standard American English and other Standard Englishes with respect to this, but I'd be interested to learn of any. – Jim Reynolds Oct 20 '16 at 13:37
@JimReynolds: "A whole another league" is not grammatically correct in any dialect, or context, or genre of English with which I am familiar. That is due to the effective repetition of the indefinite article; yes, even though it was hidden by an apostrophe! Substituting "other" for "another" would be fine. Of course, I am not asserting that people are not allowed to use the phrase as written, or anything so draconian; I'm merely pointing out that it's a bit hokey from a technical standpoint. (It also, to my ears, sounds clunky for the same reason.) I hope that helps. – Lightness Races in Orbit Oct 20 '16 at 15:50
@Jim: Indeed, you may notice that I myself have employed cadence in my prior comment ("X, or Y, or Z") for purely stylistic reasons; I am not sure of the technical correctness of this structure, but I would wager it is just as "wrong". :) – Lightness Races in Orbit Oct 20 '16 at 15:58
I don't think grammatical correctness matters in speech nearly as much as being colloquial. There's certainly nothing wrong with saying "he's in a whole 'nother league". – user428517 Oct 20 '16 at 19:21
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@LightnessRacesinOrbit The phrase "a whole 'nother" is not grammatically incorrect because it's an idiom. If you say "a whole another" you're saying it wrong. And if you say "a whole other" you are also saying it wrong. – barbecue Oct 21 '16 at 01:42
Related: We don't count professionals, and similar phrases. Implication is that when compared to all the others, this person is literally at a professional, as opposed to amateur, level. Usually applied to non-sporting fields that don't actually have professionals. "Bob can hold his liquor like nobody I know." "Except for Shawn..." Shawn is a pro, he doesn't count. " – barbecue Oct 21 '16 at 01:48
@barbecue: It being an idiom doesn't magically rewrite the grammar of the English language. As for "a whole other" I don't think that's "wrong", but have nothing to back that up and it's too early in the morning for research.. so don't quote me on it. :) – Lightness Races in Orbit Oct 21 '16 at 08:49
@sgroves: I didn't say how much it "matters" that it's grammatically incorrect; I merely pointed out that it is. (Indeed, I have already stated: "Of course, I am not asserting that people are not allowed to use the phrase as written, or anything so draconian"). – Lightness Races in Orbit Oct 21 '16 at 08:49
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@LightnessRacesinOrbit: “It being an idiom doesn't magically rewrite the grammar of the English language.” How else is the grammar of a language ever made, except by the way people speak it? A whole nother (however one chooses to write it) is a phrase that native speakers use, deliberately and consistently and predictably. By any linguistic standard, it’s part of the grammar of the language — albeit associated with an informal/colloquial usage, not formal usage. – PLL Oct 21 '16 at 18:07

score 23 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 18 '16 at 22:44

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He is off the charts.

The meaning is:

Outside of the normal range of measurement; beyond expectations.

answered Oct 18 '16 at 22:44

shakesbeer

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score 15 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 18 '16 at 18:35

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In the link provided by @stangdon (nice word BTW) scroll down to the synonyms for a number of possible options which I have selected from below:

Of all of these, I think unparalleled is the most like what you want.

answered Oct 18 '16 at 18:35

JimmyJames

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While "in a league of his own" and "off the charts" are a more idiomatic way of saying it, I really like all these examples because they literally convey the concept in a single word. "Phelps is incomparable" is a concise way of saying exactly what you mean -- you just can't compare anyone to Phelps. – JeremyDouglass Nov 27 '16 at 22:21

score 11 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 19 '16 at 04:54

Generally, in this kind of situation, English speakers will actually comment on the rest of the competition:

Everyone else is competing for second place.

Which is to say that who will come in first is a foregone conclusion.

Sometimes this will be played with, for example if you wanted to discuss the competition you might say “so, who do you think will get second?” This isn’t a set phrase or anything, and most listeners will do a double-take (it’s an unusual question), but if they’re familiar with the situation they’ll likely understand the implication with just a second thought (that who will get first isn’t interesting to discuss because we all already know that).

I like your answer! simple, casual, easy to remember :) – Jony Agarwal Oct 19 '16 at 14:33 — Jony Agarwal, Oct 19 '16 at 14:33

J.R. · Answer 5 · 2016-10-18T15:55:09.710

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A very famous and well-used catchphrase is greatest of all time.

Sometimes an extra word is put in, between greatest and of. For example:

Greatest swimmer of all time
Greatest Olympian of all time
Greatest athlete of all time

By the way, I'm not claiming that Phelps is any of those things; I'm just showing how the phrase can be used.

edited Oct 18 '16 at 15:55

answered Oct 18 '16 at 15:10

J.R.

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Probably safe to say he's at least the first one. – coburne Oct 18 '16 at 19:03
Pro sports are evolving so fast in terms of athlete training and conditioning, that even Phelps or Bolt are bound to be surpassed sometime. – Mindwin Remember Monica Oct 18 '16 at 19:09
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In sports we often shorten the "greatest of all time" to The G.O.A.T.. Read as goat. – earl3s Oct 20 '16 at 03:15

score 5 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 18 '16 at 19:24

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You could use a word that figuratively describes the person as being beyond human...

transcendent

superhuman

Or a word that describes him as having no equal...

unparalleled

Some people describe such a person colloquially, as a phenom.

answered Oct 18 '16 at 19:24

Christopher Falone

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+1 for transcendant, which is what I would have added. Not sure I agree about the others though. – Adrian Larson Oct 19 '16 at 13:20

score 4 · Answer 7 · answered Oct 18 '16 at 18:40

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English speakers (or at least writers) might in fact revert to a Latin phrase that has found its way into English usage and say "He is sui generis", meaning literally "He is of his own kind".

answered Oct 18 '16 at 18:40

Mike Scott

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I would be shocked to find a single use of "sui generis" with this meaning anywhere in the literature. – Oct 20 '16 at 14:32
@NajibIdrissi Just for example, second paragraph second sentence of this: http://www.scottishreviewofbooks.org/free-content/nobel-for-dylan/ – Mike Scott Oct 20 '16 at 14:36
It is not clear at all that it is used with the meaning "so good that it isn't even considered in the classification". – Oct 20 '16 at 14:41

score 4 · Answer 8 · answered Oct 19 '16 at 14:30

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If you're talking to a statistician, you can call this an outlier. It describe a data point that is so unlike the other that they are often excluded from the data set.

answered Oct 19 '16 at 14:30

Pierre.Sassoulas

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earl3s · Answer 9 · 2016-10-24T15:24:44.290

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You could use:

Unrivaled
Beyond compare
Without equal

In data science we consider that person an outlier. Meaning someone that is an anomaly, or set apart from the main body. We use it to describe a piece of data that, if we include it, throws off how we measure everything else. So we often remove them from consideration.

edited Oct 24 '16 at 15:24

answered Oct 19 '16 at 17:47

earl3s

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Plus one for anomaly and how we must remove them from consideration, lest we needlessly skew the results. Just be sure you always mention that you did so, for posterity. – Mazura Oct 20 '16 at 02:00
Quite true. Have to mention that you removed outliers. – earl3s Oct 20 '16 at 03:13

score 1 · Answer 10 · answered Oct 20 '16 at 01:56

They broke the mold (when they made somebody/something).

something that you say which means someone or something is very special and that there is not another person or thing like them. They broke the mold when they made Elvis. There's never been a star to match him. –TFD

score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Oct 19 '16 at 22:16

The term that immediately comes to mind for me is:

A natural (n) -- a person regarded as having an innate gift or talent for a particular task or activity.

This distingushes a person who seems to have been born with great skill or talent for something from a person who merely became good at it through rigorous practice.

Example:
Einstein is one of the greatest scientists to have ever lived. While he spent most of his life refining his theories of relativity (practicing his craft), the brilliance that led him to the idea in the first place was something he was born with.

This is backed up by science, by the way. Einstein's brain has been analyzed ever since his death. Sadly, this means that no amount of learning and practice will ever make you as as much of a genius as he was.

To use your example:

Michael Phelps doesn't count. He's a natural.

I don't think this answers the question. Most "naturals" are not the very best, especially not to the degree the OP is looking for. — Matthew Read, Oct 21 '16 at 18:06

eipi10 · Answer 12 · 2016-10-20T23:59:10.627

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You could say he's in a class by himself, meaning he's unique, unrivaled or has no equal.

Usain Bolt is in a class by himself.

edited Oct 20 '16 at 23:59

answered Oct 20 '16 at 18:40

eipi10

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score 0 · Answer 13 · answered Oct 21 '16 at 18:09

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Another option is to say that he "stands head and shoulders above" the competition, indicating that his skill level is significantly more than anyone else's.

See http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/head+and+shoulders+above

answered Oct 21 '16 at 18:09

Matthew Read

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score -1 · Answer 14 · answered Oct 19 '16 at 06:38

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The epitome of the selected proper noun.

answered Oct 19 '16 at 06:38

user43387

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I understand where you are going with this, but please provide details to explain why this might work. – Em. Oct 20 '16 at 19:45

score -3 · Answer 15 · edited Oct 20 '16 at 13:50

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Exemplary

ex·em·pla·ry
iɡˈzemplərē/
adjective
1.
serving as a desirable model; representing the best of its kind.

edited Oct 20 '16 at 13:50

Glorfindel

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answered Oct 20 '16 at 13:35

D. Pinard

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I don't think this indicates the same degree of dominance that the OP is looking for. – Matthew Read Oct 21 '16 at 18:10

Specific word to describe someone who is so good that isn't even considered in say a classification

15 Answers15