as in masterpiece
something (as a work of art) that is a great achievement and often its creator's greatest achievement
his most famous novel is regarded as a masterwork of Western literature
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Recent Examples of masterwork
The Barnes has one of the world's most extraordinary private collections with 180 Renoirs, 69 Cézannes, 59 Matisses, and 46 Picassos—that's more Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterworks than most major museums.
—
Iona Brannon, Travel + Leisure, 26 Nov. 2025
Starting in January, masterworks of sculpture, drawings, paintings and porcelain will be offered through Christie's art and luxury auction house.
—Caché McClay, Nashville Tennessean, 25 Nov. 2025
Antetokounmpo made a series of jaw-dropping plays in Games 4 and 5 to set up his masterwork in Milwaukee, in Game 6.
—The Athletic Nba Staff, New York Times, 11 Nov. 2025
Rejecting the streamlining and modernizing approach of many recent translations, Mendelsohn artfully reproduces the epic’s formal qualities—meter, enjambment, alliteration, assonance—and in so doing restores to Homer’s masterwork its archaic grandeur.
—Literary Hub, 10 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for masterwork
Iona Brannon, Travel + Leisure, 26 Nov. 2025
Starting in January, masterworks of sculpture, drawings, paintings and porcelain will be offered through Christie's art and luxury auction house.
—Caché McClay, Nashville Tennessean, 25 Nov. 2025
Antetokounmpo made a series of jaw-dropping plays in Games 4 and 5 to set up his masterwork in Milwaukee, in Game 6.
—The Athletic Nba Staff, New York Times, 11 Nov. 2025
Rejecting the streamlining and modernizing approach of many recent translations, Mendelsohn artfully reproduces the epic’s formal qualities—meter, enjambment, alliteration, assonance—and in so doing restores to Homer’s masterwork its archaic grandeur.
—Literary Hub, 10 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for masterwork
Recent Examples of Synonyms for masterwork
masterpiece
Noun
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The bride-to-be, meanwhile, flew to Paris to perform while the masterpiece was under construction.—
Bailey Bujnosek,
InStyle,
5 Jan. 2026
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One preference the females seem to have is fine sand – this is also the first to degrade in the circle, meaning the male won't reuse his masterpiece but build from scratch when another mating event requires it.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
3 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Masterwork.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/masterwork. Accessed 8 Jan. 2026.
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