Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An outstanding work of art or craft.
- n. The greatest work, as of an artist. Also called masterwork.
- n. Something superlative of its kind: a masterpiece of political ingenuity.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A work or performance of a master; a piece of work of surpassing excellence; any performance or production superior to others of its kind, whether by the same person or by others.
- n. Chief excellence or talent.
Wiktionary
- n. A piece of work that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career.
- n. A work of outstanding creativity, skill or workmanship.
- n. A work created in order to qualify as a master craftsman and member of a guild.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Anything done or made with extraordinary skill; a capital performance; a chef-d'œuvre; a supreme achievement.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an outstanding achievement
- n. the most outstanding work of a creative artist or craftsman
Etymologies
- master + piece, a calque of Dutch meesterstuk (Wiktionary)
- Probably translation of Dutch meesterstuk or German Meisterstück : Dutch meester and German Meister, master + Dutch stuk and German Stück, piece of work. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Composing a masterpiece is as simple as moving your hands.”
“This masterpiece is the work of Australian illustrator Biddy Maroney.”
“Of all the signage in the city, this masterpiece is the one that I always come back to, the one that just blows my mind.”
Boing Boing: September 17, 2006 - September 23, 2006 Archives
“F for Fake, spent a month on set of the unedited film, which she described as a masterpiece - the way it's shot, the way it's acted.”
“But in the eyes of this grizzled, embittered old observer, the all-time masterpiece is a short story written by Gene Hill.”
“Ryder's masterpiece is the most affecting painting I've ever come across that evokes the pain and suffering of a dying bird.”
“Of course, I appreciated the highly complimentary term masterpiece, but at first I was taken aback by dark.”
“I'd rather not comment in detail and instead turn a blind eye to the fact that this masterpiece is going to be torn apart by the Hounds of Hollywood.”
“Like Manhattan itself, Jonathan Lethem's masterpiece is beautiful and tawdry, tragic and forgiving, devastating and antic, a stand-in for the whole world and a place utterly unique.”
Chronic City: Summary and book reviews of Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem.
“Speaking of Macbeth, a clever prolongation of this ruinous masterpiece is still in opening for a subsequent integrate of weeks during 21st Street as good as Sansom, upon a second floor of a Lutheran Church bishopric hall there.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘masterpiece’.
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Headlines & Newsmakers
frugality, environment, extinction, bible, killer, jazz, cloning, dead, god, moon, global warming, bailout and 340 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, M
metamerism, malady, margin, marauder, maverick, mercury, mirth, mandible, macerate, meteor, manumission, mica and 292 more...
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Samme's Words
soliloquy, meander, creativity, magic, discovery, happiness, empowerment, abundance, [magnificent], iridescent, artistic, magical and 694 more...
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pikkiomania's list
picchio, eufonia, satrapo, cacio, merletto, latrato, gommo, zampetta, cianciche, ganglo, polenta, puzzolerìe and 118 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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Foxtrot's list
afternoon delight, almost unreal, full of spark, dazzle n daze, alarming stride, rushing tide, double dagger, in the nude, constant pressure, widow maker, bourbon on the rocks, air fare holme and 311 more...
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Poetrie: The Deacon's Masterpiece, or...
By Oliver Wendell Holmes (sr.?). Thanks to slumry for pointing out the link (a long time ago) to this.
Have you heard of the wonderful one-hoss shay,
That was built in such a log...dunce, perplexed, huddup, ewe-necked, rat-tailed, encore, back-crossbar, whippletree, masterpiece, dasher, bison-skin, linchpin and 19 more...
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Interesting ones
As a second language, thank you.
ergophobia, quoz, pope, wobble, logos, vertebrate, masterpiece, mu, billabong, mojo, merkin, milieu and 76 more...
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Dutchly things
Words having some sort of Dutch origin, probably boring to everyone but me — I'm currently browsing 2,422 entries having "Dutch" in their definitions/etymologies, the best of which should fin...
mynheerify, mynheer, advocaat, dutch bargain, blauwbok, butter-box, quardeel, clinquant, closh, coot, dodkin, dorp and 85 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for masterpiece.
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