quintessential

[kwin-tuh-sen-shuh l]

See more synonyms for quintessential on Thesaurus.com

adjective

of the pure and essential essence of something: the quintessential Jewish delicatessen.
of or relating to the most perfect embodiment of something: the quintessential performance of the Brandenburg Concertos.

Related formsquin·tes·sen·tial·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for quintessential

Contemporary Examples

Ignoring people you hooked up with at Shooters when encountering them on campus is a quintessential Duke experience.
Random Hook-Ups or Dry Spells: Why Millennials Flunk College Dating
Ellie Schaack
January 1, 2015
But in reality he is the quintessential example of how Washington corrupts.
Leon Panetta Is What’s Wrong With D.C.
Michael Cohen
October 8, 2014
Santorini is an island of churches: nearly 400 of them, many topped with the quintessential blue dome.
Book a Room for Two in a Santorini Cave
Joanna Eede
June 10, 2014
No wonder that of all the Bradys, it is the quintessential old maid who we miss the most.
Ann B. Davis Was the Zesty Antidote to the Bradys
Emily Shire
June 2, 2014
What, in your view, makes a quintessential Sony Classics release?
Sony Pictures Classics’ Michael Barker and Tom Bernard on Woody Allen and the State of Indie Film
Richard Porton
May 22, 2014

Historical Examples

Where the notion of doing so is simply ludicrous, you have quintessential poetry.
Poetry for Poetry's Sake
A. C. Bradley
A quintessential drop of intellect is apt to be in poetic blood.
The Collected Poems of Rupert Brooke
Rupert Brooke
You were sixteen then, and the effect as you came into the room was quintessential.
Marge Askinforit
Barry Pain
But after he has made them quintessential of a class, he must be careful also to individualize them.
Materials and Methods of Fiction
Clayton Hamilton
Then turning after a moment's silence to the girl, "What says our Quintessential Stone to this?"
The Long Night
Stanley Weyman

British Dictionary definitions for quintessential

quintessential

adjective

most typically representative of a quality, state, etc; perfect

Derived Formsquintessentially, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for quintessential

adj.

c.1600, "purest, most refined," from quintessence (Medieval Latin quint essentia) + -al (1). Related: Quintessentially.

quintessential

Examples from the Web for quintessential

Contemporary Examples

Ignoring people you hooked up with at Shooters when encountering them on campus is a quintessential Duke experience.

But in reality he is the quintessential example of how Washington corrupts.

Santorini is an island of churches: nearly 400 of them, many topped with the quintessential blue dome.

No wonder that of all the Bradys, it is the quintessential old maid who we miss the most.

What, in your view, makes a quintessential Sony Classics release?

Historical Examples

Where the notion of doing so is simply ludicrous, you have quintessential poetry.

A quintessential drop of intellect is apt to be in poetic blood.

You were sixteen then, and the effect as you came into the room was quintessential.

But after he has made them quintessential of a class, he must be careful also to individualize them.

Then turning after a moment's silence to the girl, "What says our Quintessential Stone to this?"

quintessential

Word Origin and History for .css-1fxfie5{font-size:22px;}@media (max-width:768px){.css-1fxfie5{font-size:18px;margin:0 10px 10px 0;word-break:break-all;word-wrap:break-word;-webkit-hyphens:auto;-moz-hyphens:auto;-ms-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;line-height:22px;}}quintessential

adj.

Word Origin and History for quintessential