What does masterpiece mean?
Word: Masterpiece
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Masterpiece means the finest work produced by an artist, writer or maker, such as a painting, a book or a building.
How do you spell masterpiece?
Syllables: mas - ter - piece
Tricky part: The second part is piece, as in a piece of cake, not peace. Students who think of peace write masterpeace; others swap the vowels and write masterpeice.
Watch out for: masterpeace, masterpeice
Memory tip: The best piece of a pie is the masterpiece, and piece itself starts with pie: p-i-e.
Masterpiece in a sentence
Example 1: Many people think the Konark Sun Temple is a masterpiece of stone carving.
Example 2: Grandma's quilt, stitched over two winters, is a masterpiece of tiny stitches.
Example 3: Our class play turned into a masterpiece once everyone had learnt their lines.
Fun Fact
The cave paintings of Ajanta in Maharashtra, some of them about 2,000 years old, are counted among the great masterpieces of Indian art.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Fusion
Which two parts join to make a new word?
1. mastar 2. master 3. mastor 4. piece 5. plate 6. pace
a) 2 and 6
b) 2 and 4
c) 3 and 5
d) 1 and 4
Show answer
b) 2 and 4. Master ends in -er, and with piece it makes the word for an artist's finest work.
Jumble Tumble
What is the meaning of the word that can be formed from the given letters?
pisaemeretc
a) a rough first try at a drawing
b) a small sketch done in a hurry
c) a copy made by a student
d) an artist's very finest work
Show answer
d) an artist's very finest work. Unscrambled, the letters spell masterpiece, the best work an artist produces.
Word Tally
How many words are misspelt in the given sentence?
The Taj Mahal is a masterpiece of Mughal building, made of white marbel and decorated with precious stones.
a) 3
b) 2
c) 0
d) 1
Show answer
d) 1. Only marble is wrong: it ends in -le, not -el.
Sound Check
In which word is 'c' pronounced differently?
a) parcel
b) notice
c) masterpiece
d) carpet
Show answer
d) carpet. In carpet the c is hard, as in cat; in masterpiece, parcel and notice it says "s".
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A writer's masterpiece is ___.
a) the shortest book she wrote
b) the best book she ever wrote
c) the last book she wrote
d) the first book she ever wrote
Show answer
b) the best book she ever wrote
2. Calling a cake a masterpiece means it was ___.
a) baked in a hurry
b) shared with friends
c) bought from a shop
d) made with great skill
Show answer
d) made with great skill
