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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.] exqui·site·ly adv. exqui·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 (ĕkskwĭ-zĭt), rhyming roughly with requisite. Although the pronunciation with stress on the second syllable—(ĭk-skwĭzĭt), rhyming roughly with exhibit—is newer, it was preferred by 64 percent of the Usage Panel in the 2011 survey. |
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