extraordinary

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• adjective Beyond what is ordinary or usual.
• adjective Highly exceptional; remarkable.
• adjective Employed or used for a special service, function, or occasion.

from The Century Dictionary.

• Remarkably; exceptionally; extraordinarily.
• Being beyond or out of the common order or rule; not of the usual, customary, or regular kind; not ordinary: as, extraordinary evils require extraordinary remedies.
• Not pertaining to a regular system or sequence; exceptional; special: as, an extraordinary courier or messenger; an ambassador extraordinary; the extraordinary jurisdiction of a court; a gazette extraordinary.
• In universities, relating to studies outside of the regular curriculum, or to lectures not recognized by the university as of the first rank of importance.
• Exceeding the common degree or measure; hence, remarkable; uncommon; rare; wonderful: as, the extraordinary genius of Shakspere; an edifice of extraordinary grandeur.
• Synonyms Unusual, singular, extra, unwonted, signal, egregious, marvelous, prodigious, strange, preposterous.
• noun Anything uncommon or unusual; a thing exceeding the usual order, practice, or method.
• noun An express messenger or courier.
• noun Extra expense or indulgence.
• noun In the British service, an allowance to troops beyond the gross pay, such as the expenses for barracks, encampments, etc.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun That which is extraordinary; -- used especially in the plural.
• adjective Beyond or out of the common order or method; not usual, customary, regular, or ordinary
• adjective Exceeding the common degree, measure. or condition; hence, remarkable; uncommon; rare; wonderful.
• adjective Employed or sent upon an unusual or special service.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• adjective Not ordinary; exceptional; unusual;

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• adjective far more than usual or expected
• adjective beyond what is ordinary or usual; highly unusual or exceptional or remarkable
• adjective (of an official) serving an unusual or special function in addition to those of the regular officials