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Webster 1913 Edition


Exquisite

Ex′qui-site

,
Adj.
[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; giving rare satisfaction;
as,
exquisite
workmanship
.
Plate of rare device, and jewels
Of reach and
exquisite
form.
Shakespeare
I have no
exquisite
reason for ’t, but I have reason good enough.
Shakespeare
2.
Exceeding; extreme; keen; – used in a bad or a good sense;
as,
exquisite
pain or pleasure
.
3.
Of delicate perception or close and accurate discrimination; not easy to satisfy; exact; nice; fastidious;
as,
exquisite
judgment, taste, or discernment
.
Syn. – Nice; delicate; exact; refined; choice; rare; matchless; consummate; perfect.

Ex′qui-site

,
Noun.
One who manifests an exquisite attention to external appearance; one who is overnice in dress or ornament; a fop; a dandy.

Webster 1828 Edition


Exquisite

EX'QUISITE

,
Adj.
s as z. [L. e xquisitus, from exquiro; ex and quaero, to seek.] Literally, sought out or searched for with care; whence, choice; select. Hence,
1.
Nice; exact; very excellent; complete; as a vase of exquisite workmanship.
2.
Nice; accurate; capable of nice perception; as exquisite sensibility.
3.
Nice; accurate; capable of nice discrimination; as exquisite judgment, taste or discernment.
4.
Being in the highest degree; extreme; as, to relish pleasure in an exquisite degree. So we say, exquisite pleasure or pain.
The most exquisite of human satisfactions flows from an approving conscience.
5.
Very sensibly felt; as a painful and exquisite impression on the nerves.

Definition 2024


exquisite

exquisite

English

Adjective

exquisite (comparative more exquisite, superlative most exquisite)

  1. 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, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “chapter I”, in The Younger Set (Project Gutenberg; EBook #14852), New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, published 1 February 2005 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 4241346:
      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 figurea glimmer of ruddy hair and the white curve of a youthful face, half-buried in a muff.
  2. (obsolete) Carefully adjusted; precise; accurate; exact.
  3. Recherché; far-fetched; abstruse.
  4. Of special beauty or rare excellence.
  5. Exceeding; extreme; keen, in a bad or a good sense.
    exquisite pain or pleasure
  6. Of delicate perception or close and accurate discrimination; not easy to satisfy; exact; fastidious.
    exquisite judgment, taste, or discernment
    • Thomas Fuller (1606-1661)
      his books of Oriental languages, wherein he was exquisite

Synonyms

Translations

Noun

exquisite (plural exquisites)

  1. (rare) Fop, dandy. [from early 20th c.]
    • 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.

Translations


Latin

Participle

exquīsīte

  1. vocative masculine singular of exquīsītus

References

  • exquisite in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers