Dictionary

infraordinary en · ADJ

Etymology

From infra- + ordinary. Now mainly used as an allusion to the writings of French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist, and essayist Georges Perec, who used the term l'infra-ordinaire in his 1973 essay "Approaches to What?" (Approches de quoi ?). First attested in 1827.

Meanings

1. (literary) Existing at a level below that which is considered ordinary.
   • "On the Calculation of Volume," structured as a numbered diary (we begin on Tara's 121st Nov. 18), plunges us into what Georges Perec called the infraordinary, the perplexities of the habitual and the banal: a stirring confrontation with reality that feels genuinely new. These books might brim with repetitions, but they are hardly recapitulations. 2025 January 25, Hilary Leichter, “A 'Groundhog Day' Time Loop So Long It Spans 7 Enthralling Books”, in The New York Times Book Review, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 Jan 2025:
   • More generally, the historical idea of Little Italy weans its authority from the worlding effects of the colony's infraordinary everyday life, which appears as a fully visualized morphology. 2010, William Boelhower, “Figuring Out Little Italy: Down Mott Street and into the City”, in Dennis Barone, Stefano Luconi, editors, Small Towns, Big Cities: The Urban Experience of Italian Americans, New York, N.Y.: American Italian Historical Association, →ISBN, page 22:
   • There is richness in every verse, with ever now and then a bit of imagery that must inevitably stamp itself upon even an infraordinary intelligence. 1904 February, “Books and Writers”, in Sunset, volume XII, number 4, San Francisco, C.A.: Southern Pacific, page 368, column 2:

Forms