Usually when we use the word different, we are describing something that is unlike something else. The word disparate conveys that, too, but the distinction is more pronounced. Items, attitudes, or systems that are disparate are so dissimilar or incongruous that they are difficult to compare, and may indeed seem incompatible. Despite this word's prickly disposition, disparate is often found in discussions of efforts to bring things together or find common ground.

Isn't it amazing how easy it is to overuse the word amazing? Prodigious is a more specific descriptor. Like amazing, prodigious conveys a sense of wonder, but it is used to comment on the size, amount, extent, or degree of what is being described. Items described as prodigious are extraordinary by one of these measures, as a musician with prodigious talent, a research grant of a prodigious amount, or a career notable for its prodigious output.

The adjective beautiful means "having beauty; delighting the senses," but on its own, it doesn't specify much beyond that. To call something exquisite, on the other hand, is to highlight a degree of rarity, and to suggest delicate or intricate qualities. The word exquisite comes from the Latin adjective exquīsītus meaning "meticulous, chosen with care." Indeed, items that are likely to be called exquisite, such as a fine wine, an impressive painting, a quality piece of furniture, or a piece of fine jewelry, are meticulously crafted.