paragons
Shining examples all
Paragons are models of excellence or supreme examples of a quality.
The word usually appears with a specifying phrase: a paragon of virtue, a paragon of patience.
Someone described as a paragon embodies the ideal form of whatever trait is named—though the term sometimes carries faint irony, suggesting the standard is impossibly high.
Universal symbolic patterns
- epitomesUltimate representations of types
- quintessencePurest embodiment of something
- modelsScaled representations or fashion workers
- iconsRepresentative small images
benchmarks · standards · ideals · embodiments · apotheoses · nonpareils · prototypes · paradigms
Moral soundness and consistency
- righteousnessMoral correctness or virtue
- nobilityTitled ruling class
- honorHigh regard, moral dignity
- uprightnessMoral correctness and honesty
rectitude · probity · moral excellence · ethical standards · incorruptibility · blamelessness · saintliness · purity
Absence of any fault
- pinnaclesHighest or culminating points
- acmesUltimate high points
- zenithsUppermost points reached
- summitsHighest elevations or conferences
peaks · apexes · heights · masterpieces · cream of the crop · best in class · gold standards · top tier
archetypes
Universal symbolic patterns
- epitomesUltimate representations of types
- quintessencePurest embodiment of something
- modelsScaled representations or fashion workers
icons · benchmarks · standards · ideals · embodiments · apotheoses · nonpareils · prototypes · paradigms · templates
integrity
Moral soundness and consistency
- righteousnessMoral correctness or virtue
- nobilityTitled ruling class
- honorHigh regard, moral dignity
uprightness · rectitude · probity · moral excellence · ethical standards · incorruptibility · blamelessness · saintliness · purity · goodness
perfection
Absence of any fault
summits · peaks · apexes · heights · masterpieces · cream of the crop · best in class · gold standards · top tier · preeminence
- Exemplarsexemplars, role models, ideals, gold standards, benchmarks
- eliteelite, elites, aristocrats, nobility, best
- prominencesprotuberance, protrusion, bulge, bump, swelling
paragonsvillains
Evil characters in narratives
scoundrels · reprobates · degenerates · miscreants · blackguards
paragonsaberrations
Departures from the norm
anomalies · outliers · deviants · freaks · monstrosities