exquisite
English
Etymology
From Latin exquīsītus, perfect passive participle of exquīrō (“seek out”).
Pronunciation
Audio (US) (file) - (UK) IPA(key): /ɪkˈskwɪzɪt/, /ˈɛkskwɪzɪt/
Adjective
exquisite (comparative more exquisite, superlative most exquisite)
- Especially fine or pleasing; exceptional.
- They sell good coffee and pastries, but their chocolate is exquisite.
- Sourav Ganguly scored an exquisite century in his debut Test match.
- 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326:
- Selwyn, sitting up rumpled and cross-legged on the floor, after having boloed Drina to everybody's exquisite satisfaction, looked around at the sudden rustle of skirts to catch a glimpse of a vanishing figure—a glimmer of ruddy hair and the white curve of a youthful face, half-buried in a muff.
- (obsolete) Carefully adjusted; precise; accurate; exact.
- Recherché; far-fetched; abstruse.
- Of special beauty or rare excellence.
- Exceeding; extreme; keen, in a bad or a good sense.
- exquisite pain or pleasure
- Of delicate perception or close and accurate discrimination; not easy to satisfy; exact; fastidious.
- exquisite judgment, taste, or discernment
- 1655, Thomas Fuller, James Nichols, editor, The Church History of Britain, […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), new edition, London: […] [James Nichols] for Thomas Tegg and Son, […], published 1837, OCLC 913056315:
- his books of Oriental languages, wherein he was exquisite
Synonyms
- beautiful, delicate, discriminating, perfect
Derived terms
- exquisite corpse
Translations
especially fine
|
obsolete: carefully adjusted
|
recherché
|
of special beauty or rare excellence
|
exceeding, extreme
|
of delicate perception
|
Noun
exquisite (plural exquisites)
- (rare) Fop, dandy. [from early 20th c.]
- 1849, Alexander Mackay, The western world; or, travels in the United States in 1846-87 (page 93)
- It is impossible to meet with a more finished coxcomb than a Broadway exquisite, or a “Broadway swell,” which is the designation attached to him on the spot.
- 1925, P. G. Wodehouse, Sam the Sudden, Random House, London:2007, p. 42.
- So striking was his appearance that two exquisites, emerging from the Savoy Hotel and pausing on the pavement to wait for a vacant taxi, eyed him with pained disapproval as he approached, and then, starting, stared in amazement.
- 'Good Lord!' said the first exquisite.
- So striking was his appearance that two exquisites, emerging from the Savoy Hotel and pausing on the pavement to wait for a vacant taxi, eyed him with pained disapproval as he approached, and then, starting, stared in amazement.
- 1849, Alexander Mackay, The western world; or, travels in the United States in 1846-87 (page 93)
Translations
fop, dandy — see fop
German
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Adjective
exquisite
- inflection of exquisit:
- strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
- strong nominative/accusative plural
- weak nominative all-gender singular
- weak accusative feminine/neuter singular
Latin
Participle
exquīsīte
- vocative masculine singular of exquīsītus
References
- “exquisite”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers