ˈ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷ noun
Etymology: probably translation of Dutch meesterstuk or German meisterstück
1. : a piece of work attesting to a craftman's professional skill and presented to his guild to qualify for admission to the rank of master
a masterpiece was nothing more than a graduation piece — Virgil Thomson
2.
a. : something done or made with extraordinary skill or brilliance : a supreme achievement
a masterpiece of organization — O.S.Nock
delicious onion sandwiches are perhaps her masterpiece — Jane Nickerson
a masterpiece of ecclesiastical statesmanship — T.S.Eliot
b. : a work of art of notable excellence or brilliance : a supreme intellectual or artistic achievement
the world's symphonic masterpieces
the masterpieces of Elizabethan drama
the artist may have many masterpieces — Encyc. Americana
specifically : an artist's most accomplished or climactic work marking the high point of his creativity
this delay in printing what was to prove his masterpiece — H.S.Canby
his masterpiece … scarcely fulfills one of the conditions set forth in handbooks of rhetoric — English Journal
3. : something that is a consummate example of or embodies in superlative degree some quality or trait
masterpieces of inept versification — American Guide Series: Michigan
his masterpiece of bad writing — Edmund Wilson
a masterpiece of fence-sitting — American Guide Series: North Carolina