recherché means sought out and chosen with care; choice; exquisite. It carries an Arena rating of 1524, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, recherché ranks #3,173 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #3,232 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #3,516 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #3,554 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound.
recherché is pronounced /ɹəˌʃɛɹˈʃeɪ/.
Why “recherché” is a great word
Sought out with care for its rarity, refinement, or affected elegance. From the French recherché, past participle of rechercher ('to seek out'), from re- ('again') + chercher ('to search, seek'), first attested in English in 1722. Unlike 'exquisite' (which glows with inherent delicacy) or 'pretentious' (which swells with hollow boastfulness), recherché is the quiet hum of intention—something not merely found, but found again. It is the single, faultless orchid displayed against a void of black lacquer, the faint scent of aged violets rising from a sealed letter, or the Victorian mourning brooch of woven human hair, acquired at ruinous cost; it is elegance not born, but unearthed, and thus always shadowed by the effort of its own discovery.
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French recherché; more at French rechercher. Doublet of ricercata.
adj
- Sought out and chosen with care; choice; exquisite.e.g.“Mangostanes, the recherché fruit of the Straits Settlements, are found in the Islands of Mindanao and Sulu.” — 1892, John Foreman, The Philippine Islands, page 375:
- Exotic; of rare quality, elegance, attractiveness, etc.
- Precious, pretentious, affected.e.g.“For quotations using this term, see Citations:recherché.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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