exquisite

B2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈɛkskwəzət/ UK /ɪkˈskwɪzɪt/ See IPA manual

Freq #8713

Meanings

1

adj
Extremely beautiful and delicate.

The museum houses some of the world's most exquisite works of art.
2

adj
Extremely fine, pleasing, or of high quality.

They sell good coffee, but their chocolate is exquisite.
3

adj
Very intense or sharp, especially of pain or pleasure.

She suffered exquisite pain after the fall.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · extremely beautiful and... dainty recherche

3 adj · very intense or sharp,... keen

More beautiful delicate discriminating perfect

Word family

Forms exquisitenessexquisites

Derived forms exquisitelyexquisitenessoverexquisitesuperexquisite

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

exquisite face
a face considered exceptionally beautiful and delicately formed

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Latin exquīsītus (“to be outsought”), perfect passive participle of exquīrō (“to outseek”).

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# exquisite

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈɛkskwəzət/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪkˈskwɪzɪt/
**Frequency rank:** 8713

## Meanings
1. Extremely beautiful and delicate.
2. Extremely fine, pleasing, or of high quality.
3. Very intense or sharp, especially of pain or pleasure.

## Examples
- The museum houses some of the world's most exquisite works of art.
- They sell good coffee, but their chocolate is exquisite.
- She suffered exquisite pain after the fall.

## Synonyms
- beautiful
- delicate
- discriminating
- perfect

## Derived Forms
- exquisitely
- exquisiteness
- overexquisite
- superexquisite

## Etymology
From Latin exquīsītus (“to be outsought”), perfect passive participle of exquīrō (“to outseek”).

## AI Etymology
Exquisite comes from Latin exquīsītus (“to be outsought”), perfect passive participle of exquīrō (“to outseek”). In current use, the main senses are “Extremely beautiful and delicate” and “Extremely fine, pleasing, or of high quality”.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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