nonpareil ˌnän-pə-ˈrel noun and adjective
noun: model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal
noun: colored beads of sugar used as a topping on e.g. candies and cookies
noun: a flat disk of chocolate covered with beads of colored sugar
adjective: eminent beyond or above comparison
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The word nonpareil has appeared in 10 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Oct. 30 in the Opinion column “The Internet Will Be the Death of Us” by Frank Bruni:
Technology has always been a coin with two sides: potential and peril. That’s what Mary Shelley explored in “Frankenstein,” which is celebrating its 200th birthday this year, and it has been the main theme of science fiction ever since.
The internet is the technology paradox writ more monstrous than ever. It’s a nonpareil tool for learning, roving and constructive community-building. But it’s unrivaled, too, in the spread of lies, narrowing of interests and erosion of common cause. It’s a glorious buffet, but it pushes individual users toward only the red meat or just the kale. We’re ridiculously overfed and ruinously undernourished.
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