Such Meaning
/sʌt͡ʃ/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
detLike this, that, these, those; used to make a comparison with something implied by context.
detAny.
Sentence Examples
A Japanese would never do such a thing.
This is such a sad story.
This issue was of such importance that we could not afford to ignore it.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The painting displays ____ vibrant color that I have never witnessed before.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It was ____ a beautiful day that we decided to pack a picnic and spend the whole afternoon in the park.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English such, swuch, swich, swilch, swulch, from Old English swelċ, from Proto-West Germanic *swalīk, from Proto-Germanic *swalīkaz (“so formed, so like”), equivalent to so + like. Cognate with Scots swilk, sic, sik (“such”), Saterland Frisian suk (“such”), West Frisian suk, sok (“such”), Low German sülk, sulk, suk (“such”), Dutch zulk (“such”), German solch (“such”), Danish slig (“like that, such”), Swedish slik (“such”), Icelandic slíkur (“such”). More at so, like.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town. I was completely mystified at such an unusual proceeding."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
"She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, […]; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid,[…]—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter II, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"Adopting such titles as “Wild Bill” and “Pecos Pete,” Canadian dominants began practicing their craft and soon attracted throngs of adoring submissives."
— 2005, Annabelle du Fouet, “The murky world from whence it all came” (chapter 2), in Weather Balloons Make Rotten Sex Toys, Ellora's Cave, →ISBN, page 49:
"An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine."
— 2013 June 1, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 5 (Technology Quarterly):
"They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too.[…]."
— 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The painting displays ____ vibrant color that I have never witnessed before.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It was ____ a beautiful day that we decided to pack a picnic and spend the whole afternoon in the park.