Skip to definition.
Get the FREE one-click dictionary software for Windows or the iPhone/iPad and Android apps


Adjective: fine (finer,finest)  fIn
  1. Being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition
    "everything's fine"; "dinner and the movies had been fine"; "another minute I'd have been fine";
    - all right, o.k., OK, okay, hunky-dory [informal], cool [informal], alright, jake [N. Amer, Austral, NZ, informal]
     
  2. Of textures that are smooth to the touch or substances consisting of relatively small particles
    "wood with a fine grain"; "fine powdery snow"; "fine rain"; "batiste is a cotton fabric with a fine weave"; "covered with a fine film of dust"
     
  3. Minutely precise especially in differences in meaning
    "a fine distinction"
     
  4. Thin in thickness or diameter
    "a fine film of oil"; "fine hairs"; "read the fine print"
     
  5. Characterized by elegance, refinement or accomplishment
    "fine wine"; "looking fine in her Easter suit"; "a fine gentleman"; "fine china and crystal"; "a fine violinist"; "the fine hand of a master"
     
  6. (metallurgy) free from impurities; having a high or specified degree of purity
    "gold 21 carats fine"
Adverb: fine  fIn
  1. An expression of agreement normally occurring at the beginning of a sentence
    - very well, alright, all right, OK, all righty [non-standard], righty-ho [Brit, informal]
     
  2. In a delicate manner
    "her fine drawn body";
    - finely, delicately, exquisitely
Noun: fine  fIn
  1. Money extracted as a penalty
    - mulct, amercement [archaic]
Verb: fine  fIn
  1. Record a fine as a penalty in a police record
    "I was fined for parking on the wrong side of the street";
    - ticket
     
  2. Impose a fine on
    "he was fined for littering";
    - mulct
     
  3. Clarify (wine and beer), e.g. by adding something to cause precipitation of unwanted impurities and sediment

Derived forms: finest, fined, fines, fining, finer

See also: close, close-grained, dustlike, elegant, fine-grained, floury, nongranular, powdered, powdery, precise, pulverised [Brit], pulverized, pure, satisfactory, small, small-grained, smooth, superfine, texture, thin, tight

Type of: book, impose, levy, penalty

Antonym: harsh

Encyclopedia: Fine, Robert