ex·quis·ite
(ĭk-skwĭz′ĭt, ĕk′skwĭ-zĭt)adj.1. a. Characterized by highly skilled or intricate art; excellently made or formed: an exquisite gold chalice.
b. Extremely or delightfully beautiful: the exquisite colors of a sunset.
2. Excellent or outstanding, especially by exhibiting or appealing to refined taste: "A guy who knew all the jazz spots and had an exquisite collection of old 78s" (Shirley Abbott).
3. Extremely subtle or precise: an image rendered in exquisite detail.
4. Intense; keen: exquisite delight; suffered exquisite pain.
5. Obsolete Ingeniously devised or thought out.
n. One who is excessively fastidious in dress, manners, or taste.
[Middle English exquisit, carefully chosen, from Latin exquīsītus, past participle of exquīrere, to search out : ex-, ex- + quaerere, to seek.]
ex′qui·site·ly adv.
ex′qui·site·ness n.
Synonyms: exquisite, delicate, elegant, fine1
These adjectives mean appealing to refined taste: an exquisite wine; a delicate flavor; elegant handwriting; the finest embroidery.
Usage Note: The traditional pronunciation of exquisite has stress on the first syllable (ĕk′skwĭ-zĭt), rhyming roughly with requisite. Although the pronunciation with stress on the second syllable—(ĭk-skwĭz′ĭt), rhyming roughly with exhibit—is newer, it was preferred by 64 percent of the Usage Panel in the 2011 survey.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.