Fine Meaning
/ˈfaɪ̯n/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjSenses referring to subjective quality.
adjSenses referring to subjective quality., Of superior quality.
Sentence Examples
You're by my side; everything's fine now.
Judging from the look of the sky, it will be fine tomorrow.
I got a parking fine for parking on double yellow lines.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The driver had to pay a heavy ____ because he parked in a disabled space.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He had to pay a heavy ____ for parking his car in a restricted zone during the busy holiday.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
""That's a fine young fellow," said the historiographer of earwigs, to an American who stood next him in the crowd."
— 1856, L. S. Lavenu, chapter XVII, in Erlesmere; or, Contrasts of Character, volume 1, London: Smith, Elder & Co., page 171:
""A fine man, that Dunwody, yonder," commented the young captain, as they parted, and as he turned to his prisoner. "We'll see him on in Washington some day. He is strengthening his forces now against Mr. Benton out there.[…].""
— 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"A fine romance, with no kisses,
A fine romance, my friend, this is;
We should be like a couple of hot tomatoes,
But you're as cold as yesterday's mashed potatoes."
— 1936, “A Fine Romance”, in Dorothy Fields (lyrics), Jerome Kern (music), Swing Time (musical film):
"On the surface, everything is fine. The sleek, futuristic spaceship setting is fine (if a little cold), the acting is fine (or better than fine, in Lawrence’s case), the music is fine, the lighting is fine, the editing, the camerawork—all fine."
— 2016 December 20, Katie Rife, “Passengers strains the considerable charms of Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 23 Apr 2018:
"Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter III, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The driver had to pay a heavy ____ because he parked in a disabled space.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He had to pay a heavy ____ for parking his car in a restricted zone during the busy holiday.