fine
/ˈfaɪ̯n/ adjective, adverb, interjection, noun, verb, proper noun
Forms finer finest fines fining fined
- adjective Of superior quality. “The tree frog that they encountered was truly a fine specimen.”
- adjective (ironic) Impressively bad, inappropriate, or unsatisfactory. “You're a fine one to talk about laziness.”
- adjective (informal) Being acceptable, adequate, passable, or satisfactory; having one's well-being be no cause for concern. “How are you today? – Fine.”
- adjective (informal) Good-looking, attractive. “That man is so fine that I'd jump into his pants without a moment's hesitation.”
- adjective Subtle, delicately balanced or discriminated.
- adjective (obsolete) Showy; overdecorated.
- adjective Delicate; subtle; exquisite; artful; dexterous.
- adjective An answer often used to cover an unnecessary explanation, rather to avoid conflict or an argument. Saying "I'm fine" can be used to avoid inquiry when the speaker is not really okay. “Do you want to talk about what happened? – [sharply, with annoyance or discomfort] I'm fine!”
- adverb Well, nicely, in a positive, agreeable way. “Everything worked out fine.”
- adverb (dated, dialect, colloquial) Finely; elegantly; delicately.
- adverb (pool, billiards) In a manner so that the driven ball strikes the object ball so far to one side as to be barely deflected, the object ball being driven to one side.
- interjection Expression of (typically) reluctant or agreement.
- interjection Expression of (typically) reluctant acceptance, without further argument or discussion, of another person's viewpoint.
- noun Fine champagne; French brandy.
- noun (usually in the plural) Something that is fine; fine particles. “They filtered silt and fines out of the soil.”
- verb (transitive) To make finer, purer, or cleaner; to purify or clarify. “to fine gold”
- verb (intransitive) To become finer, purer, or cleaner.
- verb To make finer, or less coarse, as in bulk, texture, etc.
- verb To change by fine gradations. “to fine down a ship's lines, i.e. to diminish her lines gradually”
- verb (transitive) To clarify (wine and beer) by filtration.
Synonyms
good excellent hell of a all right ok o.k. okay hunky-dory kosher fine-grained fine-grain powdered powdery pulverised pulverized small-grained fine-threaded alright very well clarify mulct amercement ticket finely delicately exquisitely
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English fin, fyn, from Old French fin (“fine, minute, exact”), of obscure origin, but probably derived from Latin fīnīre (“to finish”) or fīnis (“boundary, limit, end”), with an abstract sense of fine or thin also arising in many Romance languages (compare Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish fino). Doublet of fino.
From Middle English fyn, fyne, from Old French fin, from Medieval Latin fīnis (“a payment in settlement or tax”). Doublet of fin and finis.
From Italian fine (“end”). French fin. Doublet of fin and finis.
From Middle English finen, fynen, from Old French finer, finir. See finish (transitive verb).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Finished; brought to perfection; refined; hence, free from impurity; excellent; superior; elegant; worthy of admiration; accomplished; beautiful.
- adjective Aiming at show or effect; loaded with ornament; overdressed or overdecorated; showy.
- verb To make fine; to refine; to purify, to clarify; as, to fine gold.
- verb To make finer, or less coarse, as in bulk, texture, etc.; as. to fine the soil. L. H. Bailey.
Etymology [F. fin, LL. finus fine, pure, fr. L. finire to finish; cf. finitus, p.p., finished, completed (hence the sense accomplished, perfect.) See Finish, and cf. Finite.]
Etymology [From Fine, a.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “fine”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details