prestigious
adjective
-ˈstē-
Did you know?
You might expect, based on how adjectives are often formed in English, that today’s word is an extension of the noun prestige. However, although both words share the same Latin root, they entered English by different routes and at different times. Moreover, both adjective and noun once had more to do with trickery than respect when they were first used. Prestigious came directly from the Latin adjective praestigiosis, meaning “full of tricks” or “deceitful,” and had a similar meaning upon entering English in the mid-16th century. Praestigiosis in turn came from the plural noun praestigiae, meaning “conjurer’s tricks.” This noun also gave English the word prestige, though it first passed through French and arrived a century after prestigious. Though it wasn’t first on the block, prestige influenced prestigious in a different way, by eventually developing an extended sense of “standing or esteem.” That change spurred a similar development in prestigious, which now means simply “illustrious or esteemed.”
Examples of prestigious in a Sentence
Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 24 May 2025
The dispute over international students is the latest development in the administration's standoff with one of the country's most prestigious universities.
—Luke Barr, ABC News, 23 May 2025
By 2001, both had graduated from the prestigious university: Jones with a degree in journalism and Ojeh with a degree in computer science with an economics concentration.
—Liza Esquibias, People.com, 23 May 2025
In recent years, however, Xi's anti-corruption campaign has stepped up scrutiny of Communist Party officials and their families' ties to Western countries, including assets stashed overseas and children attending prestigious U.S. universities.
—Laurie Chen, USA Today, 23 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for prestigious
Cite this Entry
“Prestigious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prestigious. Accessed 30 May. 2025.
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