exquisitely, adv.
(ˈɛkskwɪzɪtlɪ)
[f. prec + -ly2.]
In an exquisite manner or degree.
† 1. With delicate accuracy, exactly; carefully, minutely, thoroughly. Obs.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 163 That he..pronounce every lettre..curyously & exquisytly. 1599 A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 23/1 Pionye kernelles..exquisitelye pouldrede. 1647 Lilly Chr. Astrol. xliv. 270 If the certaine hour.. cannot exquisitely be knowne. 1658 Evelyn Fr. Gard. (1675) 276 Reserve them in great round boxes exquisitely shut. 1759 Duhamel's Husb. i. ix. (1762) 52 Till the whole mass is exquisitely mingled. |
2. In a highly finished manner; with perfection of detail; elaborately, beautifully, excellently. Now with emotional sense (cf. exquisite 5): With such delicate beauty or subtle perfection as to excite intense pleasure or admiration.
| 1535 Joye Apol. Tindale 29 He hath so exquysitly translated the testament. 1593 Rites & Mon. Ch. Durh. (Surtees) 43 The picture of Bushop Cedda..with..his crosier staffe in his lefte hand exquistelie shewed. a 1639 Wotton Life Dk. Buckhm. (1642) 16 A Collection of certain rare Manuscripts, exquisitly written in Arabique. 1791 Cowper Iliad xvi. 272 A goblet exquisitely wrought. 1871 H. Ainsworth Tower Hill i. xv, The tender melancholy was exquisitely expressed by her voice and looks. 1877 A. Brassey Voy. Sunbeam ix. (1878) 145 A vast chain of exquisitely tinted snow-peaks. |
3. In the highest degree; exceedingly. Now with emotional sense; cf. 2 and exquisite 3 c, 4.
| 1603 Florio Montaigne i. xxv. (1632) 84 Exquisitely readie and skilfull in the Latine. 1647 Ward Simp. Cobler (1843) 35 When the coards of a State are exquisitely tight. 1683 tr. Erasmus' Moriæ Enc. 92 They are exquisitely dexterous in unfolding the most intricate mysteries. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 497 ¶3 This fellow, in a dress the most exquisitely ridiculous. 1746 Hervey Medit. (1818) I. 151 As exquisitely fine as the rainbow. 1794 G. Adams Nat. & Exp. Philos. II. xv. 139 Exquisitely minute they must be. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xxix, There was something so exquisitely absurd in such a cartel of defiance. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 369 Humour of the most austere flavour, yet exquisitely delicious. 1882 E. O'Donovan Merv Oasis I. i. 22 The roads were in such exquisitely bad condition. |
4. With reference to perception or sensation: † a. With nicety or delicacy (obs.).
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §868 We see more exquisitely with One Eye Shut than with Both Open. 1684 R. H. Sch. Recreat. 19 It is a very sagacious and exquisitely Smelling Creature. 1748 Hartley Observ. Man i. ii. 116 It is customary, in endeavouring to feel exquisitely, to rub the Ends of the Fingers against the tangible Object. |
b. In an exquisite degree; intensely, acutely, keenly.
| 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. 891 Shoud..a Son not only murder his own Parents..but also Exquisitely torture them. 1737 Whiston Josephus' Antiq. Diss. i, These he punished exquisitely. 1802 Med. Jrnl. VIII. 431 A swelling..becoming exquisitely painful. 1851 Helps Friends in C. I. 14 To see ten human beings..making each other exquisitely uncomfortable. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 284 A people exquisitely sensitive on points of national honour. |