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Webster 1913 Edition


Quintessential

Quinˊtes-sen′tial

,
Adj.
Of the nature of a quintessence; purest; most characteristic.
Quintessential extract of mediocrity.”
G. Eliot.

Webster 1828 Edition


Quintessential

QUINTESSEN'TIAL

,
Adj.
Consisting of quintessence.

Definition 2024


quintessential

quintessential

English

Adjective

quintessential (comparative more quintessential, superlative most quintessential)

  1. Of the nature of a quintessence (in all senses); ultimate.
    • 2014 May 6, Nicholas Shakespeare, “Twin Tracks by Roger Bannister, review: Roger Bannister's memoir of a life in athletics recalls the moment 60 years ago when he broke the four-minute mile [print version: The quiet Englishman, 10 May 2014, p. R26]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review):
      Twin Tracks is the old-fashioned autobiography of a quintessential Englishman, evocative of an age when you took halibut oil for rickets and sportsmen were amateurs who trained in their lunch breaks.

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