exquisite

exquisite
—exquisitely, adv. —exquisiteness, n.
/ik skwiz"it, ek"skwi zit/, adj.
1. of special beauty or charm, or rare and appealing excellence, as a face, a flower, coloring, music, or poetry.
2. extraordinarily fine or admirable; consummate: exquisite weather.
3. intense; acute, or keen, as pleasure or pain.
4. of rare excellence of production or execution, as works of art or workmanship: the exquisite statues of the Renaissance.
5. keenly or delicately sensitive or responsive: an exquisite ear for music; an exquisite sensibility.
6. of particular refinement or elegance, as taste, manners, etc., or persons.
7. carefully sought out, chosen, ascertained, devised, etc.
n.
8. Archaic. a person, esp. a man, who is excessively concerned about clothes, grooming, etc.; dandy; coxcomb.
[1400-50; late ME < L exquisitus meticulous, chosen with care, orig. ptp. of exquirere to ask about, examine = ex- EX-1 + -quirere, comb. form of quaerere to seek]
Syn. 1. dainty, beautiful, elegant, rare. See delicate. 2. perfect, matchless. See fine1. 3. poignant. 4. select, choice, precious. 6. discriminating.
Ant. 1. gross. 2. ordinary. 3. dull.
Pronunciation. The pronunciation of EXQUISITE has undergone a rapid change from /ek"skwi zit/ to /ik skwiz"it/, with stress shifting to the second syllable. The newer pronunciation is still criticized by some, but is now more common in both the U.S. and England, and many younger educated speakers are not even aware of the older one. See harass.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Exquisite — Ex qui*site, a. [L. exquisitus, p. p. of exquirere to search out; ex out + quarere to seek, search. See {Quest}.] 1. Carefully selected or sought out; hence, of distinguishing and surpassing quality; exceedingly nice; delightfully excellent;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • exquisité — [ ɛkskizite ] n. f. • 1855; de exquis ♦ Rare Qualité de ce qui est exquis. « Il était beau, léger comme une bulle, bondissant comme un petit cheval, et mettant de l exquisité dans le cœur » (Montherlant). ● exquisité nom féminin Littéraire.… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • exquisite — [eks′kwiz it, ek skwiz′it] adj. [ME, carefully sought out < L exquisitus, pp. of exquirere, to search out < ex , out + quaerere, to ask] 1. carefully done or elaborately made [an exquisite design] 2. very beautiful or lovely, esp. in a… …   English World dictionary

  • Exquisite — Ex qui*site, n. One who manifests an exquisite attention to external appearance; one who is overnice in dress or ornament; a fop; a dandy. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • exquisite — adj 1 *choice, recherché, rare, dainty, delicate, elegant Analogous words: precious, valuable, priceless, *costly: *consummate, finished: flawless, impeccable, faultless: *perfect, intact, whole, entire 2 intense, vehement, fierce, violent… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • exquisite — [adj1] beautiful, excellent, finely detailed admirable, attractive, charming, choice, comely, consummate, cultivated, dainty, delicate, delicious, discerning, discriminating, elegant, errorless, ethereal, fastidious, fine, flawless, impeccable,… …   New thesaurus

  • exquisite — ► ADJECTIVE 1) of great beauty and delicacy. 2) highly refined: exquisite taste. 3) intensely felt; acute. DERIVATIVES exquisitely adverb exquisiteness noun. ORIGIN originally in the sense «precise»: from Latin exquirere seek out …   English terms dictionary

  • exquisite — index attractive, elegant, prime (most valuable), rare Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • exquisite — early 15c., carefully selected, from L. exquisitus carefully sought out, thus, choice, from pp. of exquirere search out thoroughly, from ex out (see EX (Cf. ex )) + quaerere to seek (see QUERY (Cf. query)). Of any thing (good or bad, tort …   Etymology dictionary

  • exquisite — The position of the stress has been moving over the last two centuries from the first syllable, which used to be the rule, to the second, which is now very common. Neither Fowler (1926) nor Gowers (1965) made any comment, but there are many who… …   Modern English usage

  • exquisite — 01. These flowers give off an [exquisite] perfume when they open in the evening. 02. Her wedding gown was simply [exquisite]. She looked like a princess. 03. Sebastien built an [exquisite] little farm set for his grandchildren. 04. Her… …   Grammatical examples in English

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