recherché

See also: recherche and Recherche

English

Alternative forms

• recherche

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French recherché; more at French rechercher. Doublet of ricercata.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɹəˌʃɛɹˈʃeɪ/
• Hyphenation: re‧cher‧ché
• Rhymes: -eɪ

Adjective

recherché (comparative more recherché, superlative most recherché)

1. Sought out and chosen with care; choice; exquisite.
   • 1892, John Foreman, The Philippine Islands, page 375:

     Mangostanes, the recherché fruit of the Straits Settlements, are found in the Islands of Mindanao and Sulu.

   • 1929, Agatha Christie, The Seven Dials Mystery:

     Stevens opened the door and proceeded to bring in a most recherché meal. An omelette was followed by quails and the very lightest things in soufflés.

   • 1960 February, R. K. Kirkland, “The Great Western and Brentford Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 79:

     The evening meal was "a repast of most recherché description," involving an endless series of toasts to almost everybody (with the notable exception of the other railway already serving Brentford, which came in for some hard knocks from various speakers).

   • 2001, Salman Rushdie, Fury: A Novel, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 3:

     Stores, dealerships, galleries struggled to satisfy the skyrocketing demand for ever more recherché produce: limited-edition olive oils, three-hundred-dollar corkscrews, customized Humvees, the latest anti-virus software, escort services featuring contortionists and twins, video installations, outsider art, featherlight shawls made from the chin-fluff of extinct mountain goats.

   • 2025 June 7, Carola Long, “Dior’s playful new creative director”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 7:

     After runway shows he [Jonathan Anderson] seems unfazed by the hectic scrum encircling him as he expounds on the various recherché influences behind the collection.

2. Exotic; of rare quality, elegance, attractiveness, etc.
4. (by extension) Precious, pretentious, affected.
   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:recherché.

Related terms

• research

See also

• recherche du temps perdu

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.ʃɛʁ.ʃe/

Participle

recherché (feminine recherchée, masculine plural recherchés, feminine plural recherchées)

1. past participle of rechercher

Adjective

recherché (feminine recherchée, masculine plural recherchés, feminine plural recherchées)

1. sought-after

   Synonyms: couru, demandé, fréquenté, suivi

   1. prized, valued

      Synonyms: apprécié, cher, chéri, estimé, précieux

   2. desired, coveted

      Synonym: convoité

2. marked by careful or laborious effort
   1. meticulous (evidencing careful or laborious effort)

      Synonyms: diligent, méticuleux, rigoureux, soigné, soigneux

   2. obtained or achieved by careful or laborious effort; immaculate, sharp, well-groomed

      Synonyms: soigné, travaillé

3. evidencing careful reflection or studious research; refined, sophisticated, exquisite

   Synonyms: élégant, étudié, exquis, précieux, raffiné, savant, sophistiqué

   une langue très recherchée ― a very refined language

4. (derogatory) unnatural, affected, contrived, overwrought, labored, tortured (as an obvious result of excessive effort or attempts at refinement)

   Synonyms: affecté, affété, alambiqué, apprêté, contourné, maniéré, mignard, ostentatoire, pompeux, précieux, prétentieux, théâtral, tourmenté, travaillé, voulu

References

• “recherché”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012