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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Near the campuses of Loyola University New Orleans and Tulane University sits Bayou Hot Wings, where chefs Allen Nguyen and Kyle Makepeace have created a different kind of masterpiece.—
Matt Moore,
Southern Living,
13 Jan. 2026
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In the late 18th century, just a few decades before Mary Shelley wrote her science fiction masterpiece, the Italian surgeon Luigi Galvani jolted the scientific community with experiments that used metal and electricity to compel disembodied frog legs to kick.—
Elise Cutts,
Quanta Magazine,
12 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Masterwork.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/masterwork. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.
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