most unique
Is it correct to describe something as “most unique”? It seems to me that “most” is redunant though it does add emphasis akin to expressions such as “very pregnant” and “very dead”.
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porsche
May 30, 2006, 2:02pm
OK, James, how about this?
"I did an experiment exposing ten fruit flies to high levels of radiation. The offspring of one was unique in that its eyes were an unusual shade of pink. The offspring of another was most unique in that it grew to a weight of 300 pounds and ate two of my lab assistants."
You may or may not find it grammatical, but I think it illustrates Chris's point.
Also, see dictionary.com:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=unique
The usage note at the bottom discusses this issue quite well.
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James (unregistered)
May 29, 2006, 12:20pm
Chris
Item A is much farther from the norm than item B? Can you give me an example? I don't understand what that means.
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Chris (unregistered)
February 18, 2006, 4:01am
Consider two unique things; item A and item B. Item A is much farther from the norm than item B. In my opinion, you could then say that A is more unique than B.
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DBP (unregistered)
November 27, 2005, 10:42pm
It is indeed correct to use 'most unique'. A quick look in any good dictionary will show you that 'unique' has more than one meaning, as Steve has accurately discerned.
The misuse comes from people like Frederick who repeat these sorry fables.
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fwright
September 28, 2005, 12:17pm
It is not correct to use terms such as "most unique" or "very unique". Unique MEANS one-of-a-kind, not merely rare or unusual. People who misuse this term are also fond of employing 'impact' as a verb.
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