phenom
/ˈfiːnɒm/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.63 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Someone or something that is phenomenal, especially a promising young player in sports like baseball, American football, basketball, tennis, and golf.
noun
One who is hip and fashionable.
Example Sentences
- "Managed and shortstopped by George Wright and full of league stalwarts—Joe Start, Paul Hines, and Jim O'rourke—they also had 1-year-old phenom Monte Ward as primary moundsman (teams now generally used multiple pitchers)."
- "It is the first all-teen final since 1999 – when neither was born – which saw Serena Williams, 17, beat an 18-year-old Martina Hingis. Teen phenoms were relatively commonplace back then, especially on the women’s side, occasionally on the men’s."
- "Co-founder Peng Zhihui first rose to fame as a teenage social media phenom, gaining millions of followers by showcasing complex DIY tech projects, such as self-balancing robots, a miniature TV, and a self-driving bicycle."
- "Jones is a pop-culture phenom whose bold antics, outlandish personality, and dazzling looks defied all norms."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂nyéti Proto-Hellenic *pʰáňňō Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō) Ancient Greek φαινόμενον (phainómenon)bor. Late Latin phaenomenonder. English phenomenonclip. English phenom Clipping of phenomenon (“remarkable occurrence”). American English, c. 1890s.