exquisite

English

Etymology

From Latin exquīsītus, perfect passive participle of exquīrō (“seek out”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

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• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪkˈskwɪzɪt/, /ˈɛkskwɪzɪt/

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 Chambers, chapter 1/2, The Younger Set^[1]:

     Selwyn …, after having boloed Drina to everybody's exquisite satisfaction, looked around […] to catch a glimpse of a vanishing figure […] 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

   • Fuller

     his books of Oriental languages, wherein he was exquisite

Synonyms

• beautiful, delicate, discriminating

Translations

especially fine

• Bulgarian: изискан (bg) (iziskan), изящен (bg) (izjašten)
• Catalan: exquisit
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 精緻 (zh), 精致 (jīngzhì)

• Dutch: exquise
• Esperanto: ravega
• Finnish: ihastuttava, hienostunut
• French: exquis (fr)

  Old French: delicatif

• German: exquisit (de)
• Hungarian: kitűnő (hu), nagyszerű (hu), pompás (hu)
• Ido: bonega (io)
• Italian: squisito (it), delizioso
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: نایاب

• Portuguese: esmero (pt)
• Russian: изысканный (ru) (izýskannyj), изящный (ru) (izjáščnyj)
• Spanish: exquisito (es), bonísimo (es)

obsolete: carefully adjusted

recherché

of special beauty or rare excellence

exceeding, extreme

of delicate perception

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

fop, dandy — see fop

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Latin

Participle

exquīsīte

1. vocative masculine singular of exquīsītus