recherché

See also: recherche and Recherche

English

Alternative forms

• recherche

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French recherché; more at French rechercher. Doublet of ricercata.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɹəˌʃɛɹˈʃeɪ/
• Hyphenation: re‧cher‧ché
• Rhymes: -eɪ

Adjective

recherché (comparative more recherché, superlative most recherché)

1. Sought out and chosen with care; choice; exquisite.
   • 1892, John Foreman, The Philippine Islands, page 375:

     Mangostanes, the recherché fruit of the Straits Settlements, are found in the Islands of Mindanao and Sulu.

   • 2001, Salman Rushdie, Fury: A Novel, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 3:

     Stores, dealerships, galleries struggled to satisfy the skyrocketing demand for ever more recherché produce: limited-edition olive oils, three-hundred-dollar corkscrews, customized Humvees, the latest anti-virus software, escort services featuring contortionists and twins, video installations, outsider art, featherlight shawls made from the chin-fluff of extinct mountain goats.

   • 2025 June 7, Carola Long, “Dior's playful new creative director”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 7:

     After runway shows he [Jonathan Anderson] seems unfazed by the hectic scrum encircling him as he expounds on the various recherché influences behind the collection.

2. Exotic; of rare quality, elegance, attractiveness, etc.
3. (by extension) Precious, pretentious, affected.
   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:recherché.

Related terms

• research

See also

• recherche du temps perdu

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.ʃɛʁ.ʃe/

Participle

recherché (feminine recherchée, masculine plural recherchés, feminine plural recherchées)

1. past participle of rechercher

Adjective

recherché (feminine recherchée, masculine plural recherchés, feminine plural recherchées)

1. sought-after

   Synonyms: couru, demandé, fréquenté, suivi

   1. prized, valued

      Synonyms: apprécié, cher, chéri, estimé, précieux

   2. desired, coveted

      Synonym: convoité

2. marked by careful or laborious effort
   1. meticulous (evidencing careful or laborious effort)

      Synonyms: diligent, méticuleux, rigoureux, soigné, soigneux

   2. obtained or achieved by careful or laborious effort; immaculate, sharp, well-groomed

      Synonyms: soigné, travaillé

3. evidencing careful reflection or studious research; refined, sophisticated, exquisite

   Synonyms: élégant, étudié, exquis, précieux, raffiné, savant, sophistiqué

   une langue très recherchée ― a very refined language

4. (derogatory) unnatural, affected, contrived, overwrought, labored, tortured (as an obvious result of excessive effort or attempts at refinement)

   Synonyms: affecté, affété, alambiqué, apprêté, contourné, maniéré, mignard, ostentatoire, pompeux, précieux, prétentieux, théâtral, tourmenté, travaillé, voulu

References

• “recherché”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.