Sunday Word: Recherché
recherché [ruh-shair-shey, ruh-shair-shey; French ruh-sher-shey]
adjective:
1 very rare, exotic, or choice; arcane; esoteric
2 of studied refinement or elegance; precious; affected; pretentious
Examples:
It is like no eggnog you have ever had, and once you try it, your palate will be far too recherché for the lowly, ready-made sort found in cartons showcased along cold case shelves at your local supermarket. (Bibi Hutchings, This mixologist-crafted eggnog is unlike any other you've ever tried before. And it's stupendous, Salon, December 2023)
A menu with options for everyone, including those who are die-hard conservative in their food tastes, so nothing too recherché, yet nevertheless with interesting choices for people like me who're turned off by tedious salmon/chicken breast/sticky toffee pudding formulas. (Joanna Blythman, Joanna Blythman's restaurant review: Bridgeview Station, Riverside Drive, Dundee, The Herald, February 2018)
The Nine Inch Nails-influenced squalls were probably quite recherché when Gabriel started making Up. Today, they don't sound original enough to be used with such frequency. (Alexis Petridis, Peter Gabriel: Up, The Guardian, September 2002)
He gave me some port of absolutely first-class vintage; I saw rows of dusty old bottles of it; and I left him sitting down to a little lunch quite recherche in an old-fashioned style. (G K Chesterton, The Scandal of Father Brown)
"And here - ah, now, this really is something a little recherché." He dived his arm down to the bottom of the chest, and brought up a small wooden box with a sliding lid, such as children's toys are kept in. From within he produced a crumpled piece of paper, and old-fashioned brass key, a peg of wood with a ball of string attached to it, and three rusty old disks of metal. (Arthur Conan Doyle, Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes)
And if the son deigned to engage in conversation with him, the old man always rose a little from his chair, and answered softly, sympathetically, with something like reverence, while strenuously endeavouring to make use of the most recherche (that is to say, the most ridiculous) expressions. (Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Poor Folk)
Origin:
'much sought-after, uncommon, rare,' 1722, from French recherché 'carefully sought out,' past-participle adjective from rechercher 'to seek out' (12c.), from re-, here perhaps suggesting repeated activity + chercher 'to search,' from Latin circare, in Late Latin 'to wander hither and thither,' from circus 'circle'. Commonly used 19c of food, styles, etc, to denote obscure excellence. (Online Etymology Dictionary)