masterpiece

English

Alternative forms

master-piece (obsolete)

Etymology

master +‎ piece, a calque of Dutch meesterstuk (compare German Meisterstück (“masterpiece”)), see also English masterstick.

Pronunciation

(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmæstɚˌpis/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑːstəˌpiːs/
Audio (US) (file)

Noun

masterpiece (plural masterpieces)

A piece of work that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career.
- 1911, Saki, The Chronicles of Clovis
  The design, when finally developed, was a slight disappointment to Monsieur Deplis, who had suspected Icarus of being a fortress taken by Wallenstein in the Thirty Years' War, but he was more than satisfied with the execution of the work, which was acclaimed by all who had the privilege of seeing it as Pincini's masterpiece.
A work of outstanding creativity, skill or workmanship.
Masterpieces are not completed, they are abandoned.
- 1899 September – 1900 July, Joseph Conrad, chapter XX, in Lord Jim: A Tale, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, published 1900, OCLC 8754022, page 221:
  “‘Man is amazing, but he is not a masterpiece,’ he said, keeping his eyes fixed on the glass case. ‘Perhaps the artist was a little mad. […] ’
- 2023 February 8, Greg Morse, “Crossing the border... by Sleeper”, in RAIL, number 976, page 45:
  It was replaced by a New Euston, "bold in design and layout and in keeping with a new railway era". Betjeman was unmoved, describing it tersely as "no masterpiece" and noting that its lack of platform seating made it an "inhuman structure" which seemed to ignore passengers.
A work created in order to qualify as a master craftsman and member of a guild.

Synonyms

chef d'œuvre
masterwork

Related terms

mistresspiece

Translations

piece of work that has been given much critical praise

Albanian: kryevepër (sq) f
Arabic: تُحْفَة‎ f (tuḥfa), رَائِعَة‎ f (rāʾiʿa)
Gulf Arabic: تحفة‎ f (tuḥfa)
Armenian: գլուխգործոց (hy) (gluxgorcocʿ)
Basque: maisulan
Belarusian: шэдэ́ўр m (šedéŭr)
Bulgarian: шедьо́вър (bg) m (šedjóvǎr)
Catalan: obra mestra f
Cherokee: ᏭᏓᎪᎾᏛᏛ (wudagonadvdv)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 傑作 (zh), 杰作 (zh) (jiézuò), 名作 (zh) (míngzuò)
Czech: mistrovské dílo n, majstrštyk (cs) m (colloquial)
Danish: mesterværk n
Dutch: meesterwerk (nl) n
Esperanto: majstroverko, ĉefverko
Finnish: mestariteos (fi)
French: chef-d'œuvre (fr) m
Galician: obra mestra f
German: Meisterstück (de) n, Meisterwerk (de) n
Greek: αριστούργημα (el) n (aristoúrgima)
Hebrew: יְצִירַת מוֹפֵת‎ f (yetsirát mofét)
Hungarian: remekmű (hu)
Icelandic: meistaraverk n
Ido: maestroverko (io)
Indonesian: mahakarya (id)
Italian: capolavoro (it) m, capodopera m
Japanese: 傑作 (ja) (けっさく, kessaku), 名作 (ja) (めいさく, meisaku)
Khmer: ស្នាដៃឯក (snaa day ʼaek)
Korean: 걸작(傑作) (ko) (geoljak)
Latin: magnum opus, palmārium n
Manx: ard-obbyr f
Maori: mounga
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: шилдэг бүтээл (šildeg büteel)
Mongolian: ᠰᠢᠯᠢᠳᠡᠭ
ᠪᠦᠲᠦᠭᠡᠯ (silideg bütügel)
Norwegian: mesterverk n, mesterstykke n
Persian: شاهکار‎ (fa) (šâh-kâr), شاه‌اثر‎ (šâh-asar)
Polish: arcydzieło (pl) n, doskonałość (pl) f, majstersztyk (pl) m
Portuguese: obra prima f
Romanian: capodoperă (ro) f
Russian: шеде́вр (ru) m (šedévr)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ремек-дело n
Roman: remek-delo n
Spanish: obra maestra f
Swedish: mästerverk (sv) n
Tagalog: likhang-guro, akdang-guro
Tajik: шоҳкор (tg) (šohkor), шоҳасар (šohasar)
Turkish: şaheser (tr)
Ukrainian: шеде́вр m (šedévr)
Vietnamese: kiệt tác (vi) (傑作)
Welsh: campwaith m, gorchestwaith m
Yiddish: מײַסטערווערק‎ n (maysterverk)

An outstanding piece of work

Dutch: meesterwerk (nl) n
Latin: palmārium n
Maori: mounga
Polish: arcydzieło (pl) n, poemat (pl) m, doskonałość (pl) f, majstersztyk (pl) m

work created in order to qualify as a master craftsman and member of a guild

Dutch: meesterproef (nl) f