Standard Lemma guide

exquisite

adj · noun · 11 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • UK: /ɪkˈskwɪzɪt/
  • UK: /ˈɛkskwɪzɪt/
  • CMU ARPABET: EH1 K S K W AH0 Z AH0 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Especially or extraordinarily fine or pleasing; exceptional.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • They sell good coffee and pastries, but their chocolate is exquisite.
  • Sourav Ganguly scored an exquisite century in his debut Test match.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Carefully adjusted; precise; accurate; exact.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Recherché; far-fetched; abstruse.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Of special beauty or rare excellence.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adj

Meaning 5

Exceeding; extreme; keen, in a bad or a good sense.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • exquisite pain or pleasure

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adj

Meaning 6

Of delicate perception or close and accurate discrimination; not easy to satisfy; exact; fastidious.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • exquisite judgment, taste, or discernment

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

Fop, dandy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: rare

Examples

  • 1925, P. G. Wodehouse, Sam the Sudden, Random House, London:2007, p. 42. So striking was his appearance that two exquisites, emerging from the Savoy Hotel and pausing on the pavement to wait for a vacant taxi, eyed him with pained disapproval as he approached, and then, starting, stared in amazement. 'Good Lord!' said the first exquisite.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: macaroni, popinjay, barbermonger, beau, blade, blood, buck, carpet knight, cockscomb, dandy, dike, dood, dude, dudelet, exquisite, fashionable, fast man, fine gentleman, fop, foretop, fribble, gallant, go, jack-a-dandy, Jemmy-Jessamy, jetter, masher, metrosexual, mignon, petit maître, pretty boy, prig, puss-gentleman, smart, spark, spiff, swell, tippy, toff

Antonyms: none provided

8

adjective satellite

Meaning 8

of extreme beauty

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • her exquisite face

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

adjective satellite

Meaning 9

delicately beautiful

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a dainty teacup
  • an exquisite cameo

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dainty

Antonyms: none provided

10

adjective satellite

Meaning 10

lavishly elegant and refined

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: recherche

Antonyms: none provided

11

adjective satellite

Meaning 11

intense or sharp

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • suffered exquisite pain
  • felt exquisite pleasure

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: keen

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

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

Across languages

Translations

61 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: изискан (iziskan) — especially fine
  • Bulgarian: изящен (izjašten) — especially fine
  • Catalan: exquisit — especially fine
  • Chinese Mandarin: 精緻 /精致 (jīngzhì) — especially fine
  • Danish: udsøgt — especially fine
  • Danish: fortræffelig — especially fine
  • Danish: raffineret — especially fine
  • Dutch: uitstekend — especially fine
  • Dutch: exquise — especially fine
  • Dutch: voortreffelijk — especially fine
  • Esperanto: ravega — especially fine
  • Esperanto: delikata — especially fine
  • Finnish: erinomainen — especially fine
  • French: exquis — especially fine
  • Old French: delicatif — especially fine
  • German: exquisit — especially fine
  • German: köstlich — especially fine
  • German: auserlesen — especially fine
  • Greek: εξαίσιος (exaísios) — especially fine
  • Greek: υπέροχος (ypérochos) — especially fine
  • Hungarian: kitűnő — especially fine
  • Hungarian: nagyszerű — especially fine
  • Hungarian: pompás — especially fine
  • Ido: bonega — especially fine
  • Italian: squisito — especially fine
  • Italian: delizioso — especially fine
  • Japanese: 絶妙 (zetsumyõ na) — especially fine
  • Central Kurdish: نایاب (nayab) — especially fine
  • Māori: turua — especially fine
  • Norwegian Bokmål: utsøkt — especially fine
  • Persian: فوقالعاده (fowq-ol'âde) — especially fine
  • Polish: wyśmienity — especially fine
  • Polish: wyborny — especially fine
  • Portuguese: esmerado — especially fine
  • Portuguese: primoroso — especially fine
  • Portuguese: excelente — especially fine
  • Portuguese: excepcional — especially fine
  • Russian: изы́сканный (izýskannyj) — especially fine
  • Russian: изя́щный (izjáščnyj) — especially fine
  • Spanish: exquisito — especially fine
  • Spanish: bonísimo — especially fine
  • Swedish: enastående — especially fine
  • Swedish: exceptionell — especially fine
  • Swedish: utomordentlig — especially fine
  • Ukrainian: ви́шуканий (výšukanyj) — especially fine
  • Finnish: tarkka — obsolete: carefully adjusted
  • Swedish: noggrann — obsolete: carefully adjusted
  • Swedish: noggrant — obsolete: carefully adjusted
  • Finnish: kaukaa haettu — recherché
  • Dutch: voortreffelijk — of special beauty or rare excellence
  • Finnish: suurenmoinen — of special beauty or rare excellence
  • Māori: turua — of special beauty or rare excellence
  • Portuguese: distinto — of special beauty or rare excellence
  • Russian: редкостный (redkostnyj) — of special beauty or rare excellence
  • Swedish: fin — of special beauty or rare excellence
  • Danish: heftig — exceeding, extreme
  • Danish: intens — exceeding, extreme
  • Esperanto: eskvizita — exceeding, extreme
  • Finnish: äärimmäinen — exceeding, extreme
  • Russian: чрезвычайный (črezvyčajnyj) — exceeding, extreme
  • Finnish: loistava — of delicate perception