different between superb vs exquisite

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin superbus.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /su?p?b/, /s??p?b/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /sju??p??b/, /su??p??b/
• Rhymes: -??(?)b
• Hyphenation: su?perb

Adjective

superb (comparative superber, superlative superbest)

1. First-rate; of the highest quality; exceptionally good.

   • Captain Edward Carlisle […] felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, […]; he could not tell what this prisoner might do. He cursed the fate which had assigned such a duty, cursed especially that fate which forced a gallant soldier to meet so superb a woman as this under handicap so hard.

2. Grand; magnificent; august; stately.

3. (dated) Haughty.
   • 1858, Julia Kavanagh, Adèle, a Tale: Volume 2 (p.235):

     A remark which Isabella received with a superb curl of the lip, but at the same time, and to her brother's infinite relief, she walked away.

Synonyms

• excellent
• superlative

Derived terms

• superbly

Translations

Anagrams

• BUPERS, Repubs

German

Alternative forms

• süperb

Etymology

Borrowed from French superbe, from Latin superbus.

Pronunciation

Adjective

superb (not comparable)

1. superb

Declension

Further reading

• “superb” in Duden online

Romanian

Etymology

From French superbe, from Latin superbus.

Adjective

superb m or n (feminine singular superb?, masculine plural superbi, feminine and neuter plural superbe)

1. superb

Declension

English

Etymology

From Latin exqu?s?tus, perfect passive participle of exqu?r? (“seek out”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?k?skw?z?t/, /??kskw?z?t/

Adjective

exquisite (comparative more exquisite, superlative most exquisite)

1. Especially fine or pleasing; exceptional.

   • Selwyn, sitting up rumpled and cross-legged on the floor, after having boloed Drina to everybody's exquisite satisfaction, looked around at the sudden rustle of skirts to catch a glimpse of a vanishing figure—a glimmer of ruddy hair and the white curve of a youthful face, half-buried in a muff.

2. (obsolete) Carefully adjusted; precise; accurate; exact.
3. Recherché; far-fetched; abstruse.
4. Of special beauty or rare excellence.
5. Exceeding; extreme; keen, in a bad or a good sense.

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

   • his books of Oriental languages, wherein he was exquisite

Synonyms

• beautiful, delicate, discriminating, perfect

Translations

Noun

exquisite (plural exquisites)

1. (rare) Fop, dandy. [from early 20th c.]
   • 1849, Alexander Mackay, The western world; or, travels in the United States in 1846-87 (page 93)

     It is impossible to meet with a more finished coxcomb than a Broadway exquisite, or a “Broadway swell,” which is the designation attached to him on the spot.

   • 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.

Translations

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

exquisite

1. inflection of exquisit:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Latin

Participle

exqu?s?te

1. vocative masculine singular of exqu?s?tus

References

• exquisite in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers