connoisseur (ˌkɒnɪˈsɜː
)
Definitions
noun
- a person with special knowledge or appreciation of a field, esp in the arts
Alternative Forms
ˌconnoisˈseurship nounWord Origin
C18: from French, from Old French conoiseor, from connoistre to know, from Latin cognōscereSynonyms
View thesaurus entry=
expert,
authority,
judge,
specialist,
buff,
devotee,
boffin,
whiz,
arbiter,
aficionado,
savant,
maven,
appreciator,
cognoscente
fundi,
fancier,
Quotations
"connoisseur: a specialist who knows everything about something and nothing about anything else"
Usage examples
My brother is particularly a connoisseur of early Staffordshire, you see.
, Whistler in the Dark (1986)It is an excellent thing for a connoisseur of an art to try it for himself.
Country Life (2005)(To find out more Second, and perhaps more surprising, the judge can't be much of a wine connoisseur.
Globe and Mail (2003)By the time of The Nearly Man (1975) Hopcraft's name was known to any connoisseur of British drama.
Times, Sunday Times (2004)And I think of a child in an English graveyard, eagerly searching among the headstones, with the eye of a connoisseur.
, What the Bee Knows - reflections on myth, symbol and story (1989)