Definition of quintessential
(Entry 1 of 2)
: perfectly typical or representative of a particular kind of person or thing
Jerry's your quintessential streetwise New Yorker …— Kai Wright This is the quintessential Los Angeles restaurant, casual but never frumpy, lively but not overheated …— Harvey Steiman Marx was the quintessential intellectual, remarkably detached from the real world.— John Steele Gordon : being a quintessence His very faults were middling … It was not in his nature to be superlative in anything; unless, indeed, he was superlatively middling, the quintessential extract of mediocrity.— George Eliot
quintessential
noun plural quintessentials
Definition of quintessential (Entry 2 of 2)
: a quintessential element : something that is a typical part or pure example
—usually pluralThe quintessentials—ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, and mustard—that characterize classic American barbecue sauce can be found in this dish.— Betty RosbottomThe quintessentials of a culture become all the more noticeable and absorbing if they are perceived as in danger of disappearing or as an obstacle to progress that must disappear.— Steve J. Stern
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Time Traveler for quintessential
The first known use of quintessential was in 1551
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