Illustration of unicorn
unicorn
noun
uni·corn
ˈyü-nə-ˌkȯrn 
plural unicorns
1
a
: a mythical, usually white animal generally depicted with the body and head of a horse with long flowing mane and tail and a single often spiraled horn in the middle of the forehead
b
: an animal mentioned in the Bible that is usually considered an aurochs, a one-horned rhinoceros, or an antelope
2
: something unusual, rare, or unique
There's the elusive unicorn: headphones that do everything well and work in any situation.—
Damon Darlin
Damon DarlinIn Washington, D.C., truth is now a veritable unicorn.—Marilyn M. Singleton
Marilyn M. Singleton… he's like baseball's version of a unicorn—a true two-way player.—Tony Paul
Tony Paul3
business
: a start-up that is valued at one billion dollars or more
… a tech unicorn in Michigan is even more of a rarity, far from Silicon Valley's investor echo chamber.—Scott Martin
Scott MartinThe blockbuster initial public offering is expected to kick off a revitalized market this year, encouraging IPO debuts by other unicorns, the privately held start-ups whose hefty venture capital funds have allowed them to avoid Wall Street and the legal requirements of a public offering.—Jon Swartz
Jon Swartz
Examples of unicorn in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The resulting medication is a bit of a unicorn in the medical world: a peptide drug pill that can be taken at any time of day, with or without food.
—Shannon Carroll, Quartz, 17 Apr. 2025
Entrepreneurs who understand these shifts can lead the next generation of unicorns – especially by building technology and automation unicorns to help the U.S. reduce reliance on foreign manufacturing.
—Dileep Rao, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
If the narwhal tusk, a tightly spiraling tooth than can grow up to nine feet in length, was not in fact from a unicorn, then perhaps the horn of the southern African wildebeest or gnu was what the ancients meant by a unicorn—never mind that these are actually two-horned.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 5 Apr. 2025
Watch the pair channel their inner Neeson and use Ghostbuster proton packs to shoot down unicorns in the video above.
—EW.com, 2 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unicorn
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Shannon Carroll, Quartz, 17 Apr. 2025
Entrepreneurs who understand these shifts can lead the next generation of unicorns – especially by building technology and automation unicorns to help the U.S. reduce reliance on foreign manufacturing.
—Dileep Rao, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
If the narwhal tusk, a tightly spiraling tooth than can grow up to nine feet in length, was not in fact from a unicorn, then perhaps the horn of the southern African wildebeest or gnu was what the ancients meant by a unicorn—never mind that these are actually two-horned.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 5 Apr. 2025
Watch the pair channel their inner Neeson and use Ghostbuster proton packs to shoot down unicorns in the video above.
—EW.com, 2 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unicorn
Cite this Entry
“Unicorn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unicorn. Accessed 27 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
unicorn
noun
uni·corn
ˈyü-nə-ˌkȯ(ə)rn
: an imaginary animal generally represented with the body and head of a horse and a single horn in the middle of the forehead
Etymology
Middle English unicorne "unicorn," from early French unicorne (same meaning), derived from Latin unicornis "having one horn," from uni- "one" and cornu "horn" — related to corn entry 3, universe
Medical Definition
unicorn
adjective
uni·corn
ˈyü-nə-ˌkȯ(ə)rn
: having a single horn or hornlike process
a unicorn uterus
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