Exquisite
adjective /ɪkˈskwɪzɪt/ — Exceptionally fine, with a beauty that demands attention.
Definition
Extremely beautiful and delicate; carefully made with intense detail and precision.
Beyond the definition
Exquisite is reserved for things that stop you — a piece of jewelry, a line of poetry, a perfectly constructed sentence. It implies not just beauty but craft. The kind of thing you want to hold still and look at longer.
Origin & history
From Latin exquisitus — carefully sought out (ex- 'out' + quaerere 'to seek'). Something searched for and found.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
The embroidery was exquisite — each stitch placed as if the whole depended on it.
She had an exquisite ear for language, catching nuance that others missed entirely.
The pain was, in its own way, exquisite — precise and impossible to ignore.
How to use it
This entry uses an adjective. Follow the examples for the nouns it describes and its position in the sentence.
Choose “Exquisite” when the meaning fits your context: Extremely beautiful and delicate; carefully made with intense detail and precision.
Synonyms
sublime, superb, magnificent, consummate, exquisite
Antonyms
crude, coarse, ordinary
Related words
Exquisite vs delicate
Exquisite implies an intense, refined beauty that demands attention due to its superior quality. Delicate focuses on fragility and fineness, suggesting something easily broken or subtle.
Word in the Wild
Illustrative story: an imagined scene, not a documented event or interview.
The curator held the earring to the light. It was sixteenth-century Flemish — a teardrop of garnet in a gold setting so fine it seemed impossible for human hands to have made it.
"Look at the join," she said. "Right here. A person sat with tools smaller than your fingernail and placed this wire with enough precision that five hundred years later it still holds."
The visitor leaned in. The join was invisible. The work was so good it had disappeared, leaving only the object, perfect and entire. This is what craftsmanship at its furthest edge looks like: it removes every trace of itself.
Questions about this word
What does "Exquisite" mean?
Exquisite is adjective meaning: Exceptionally fine, with a beauty that demands attention.. Extremely beautiful and delicate; carefully made with intense detail and precision.
Which words express “too beautiful to describe”?
Exquisite — Exceptionally fine, with a beauty that demands attention.
Where does the word "Exquisite" come from?
From Latin exquisitus — carefully sought out (ex- 'out' + quaerere 'to seek'). Something searched for and found.