masterpiece

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments  · 

View all »
Definitions (8)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun An outstanding work of art or craft.
  2. noun The greatest work, as of an artist. Also called masterwork.
  3. noun Something superlative of its kind: a masterpiece of political ingenuity.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • This masterpiece was the work of the proprietor, an example of the precious learning which might be acquired at his “establishment”. —  The Early Life of Mark Rutherford
  • The high lights were for once balanced by the depths of shadow, and a masterpiece was the result. —  The Man Shakespeare
  • A collaboration between renowned glass artists Dale Chihuly and Pino Signoretto, the masterpiece was a tangle of flames and sea creatures. —  statesmanjournal.com - Top Stories
  • My favourite definition, which comes from the great American poet Randall Jarrell's consideration of the great Australian novelist Christina Stead, is that a masterpiece is a work with something wrong with it; which reminds me, tangentially, of how Persian carpet makers always put a mistake into their work, so they will not offend God by presuming to rival His perfection. —  theatre notes
  • THE HAGUE, Netherlands _ The Netherlands's national museum said that American bank JPMorgan Chase & Co. has launched legal action challenging the ownership of a masterpiece from the Dutch Golden Age.
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 100 times.

On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Add a related word »
Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

monument ·  achievement ·  painting ·  specimen ·  gem ·  perfection ·  poem ·  marvel ·  drama ·  feat ·  portrait ·  genius

Used in the same contextWord Family

masterpiece:   masterpieces
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (1)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Probably translation of Dutch meesterstuk or German Meisterstück : Dutch meester and German Meister, master + Dutch stuk and German Stück, piece of work.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »

/ˈmæstərpis/
by American Heritage

Charts

frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about twice a week.

Recently looked up

mercilessness · deteriorating · pectore · flagitious · tumescence

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

qualms · poofter · oh for heaven's sake · embodies · silence