exquisite
/ˈɛkskwɪzɪt
/ /ɪkˈskwɪzɪt /adjective
1Extremely beautiful and delicate: exquisite, jewel-like portraits...
- Executed with breathlessly fine strokes, these exquisite images are as beautiful and accomplished as line drawings by Picasso or Matisse.
- Her fine exquisite features and extremely pale skin were making her look as a statue made by a sculptor master.
- Their delicate and exquisite prints, some of which use gampi paper as their base, sell for very reasonable prices, an opportunity that may not last.
Synonyms
beautiful, lovely, elegant, graceful;
magnificent, superb, superlative, excellent, wonderful, well-crafted, well-made, well-executed, perfect;
delicate, fragile, dainty, subtle;
intricate, tasteful, fine, choice
2Intensely felt: the most exquisite kind of agony...
- These sorts of wounds are sharp, quick, and part of the game's exquisite agonies.
- It's a form of exquisite torture watching George and Martha torment each other, and occasionally this becomes tiresome.
- It's like tapping a spoon on a bad tooth, exquisite agony.
Synonyms
intense, acute, keen, piercing, sharp, severe, racking, excruciating, agonizing, harrowing, torturous, tormenting, searing;
unbearable, insufferable, unendurable, more than one can bear, more than flesh and blood can stand
2.1Highly sensitive or discriminating: her exquisite taste in painting...
- Soprano Juliane Banse's fruity voice is neither childish nor stereotypically innocent, but her diction and sensitivity to words are exquisite.
- The exquisite sensitivity of the nose can be defeated by a common cold.
- Happily, the technology is now doing its job, collecting data methodically and with exquisite sensitivity.
Synonyms
discriminating, discerning, sensitive, selective, fastidious;
refined, cultivated, cultured, educated, appreciative;
impeccable, polished, consummate
noun literary
A man who is affectedly concerned with his clothes and appearance; a dandy.Using brightly coloured, almost grotesque distortion of an individual's salient features, he targeted the royal family, politicians, society figures, exquisites, and charlatans.
Synonyms
dandy, fop, beau, man about town, bright young thing, glamour boy, rake;
dilettante, aesthete
informal swell, dude, sharp dresser, snappy dresser, natty dresser
archaic blade, blood
Derivatives
exquisiteness
/ /ɪkˈskwɪzɪtnəs / noun ...- People from all walks of life were present at the cocktail and happily sampled the exquisiteness of Indian cuisine.
- Too bad we live in a part of the world that often covers our eyes from its skies with a thick wall of dust, keeping the exquisiteness of the twinkling stars for itself.
- It has the elements required to be spectacular, but it is lacking the exquisiteness that is associated with ballet.
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense 'precise'): from Latin exquisit- 'sought out', from the verb exquirere, from ex- 'out' + quaerere 'seek'.