A resist composition comprising (A) a compound, (B) a resin adapted to change its solubility in an organic solvent base developer under the action of acid, and (C) a photoacid generator, the compound (A) having the formula : wherein R 1 to R 4 are each independently hydrogen, hydroxyl, or a straight, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 20 monovalent hydrocarbon group which may contain a heteroatom, R 1 to R 4 may bond together to form a ring with the carbon atom to which they are attached and any intervening carbon atom, the resin (B) comprising recurring units having the formula and recurring units having the formula : wherein R A is hydrogen, fluorine, methyl or trifluoromethyl, Z A is a single bond, phenylene, naphthylene, or -C(=O)-O-Z'-, Z' is a straight, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 10 alkylene group which may contain a hydroxy moiety, ether bond, ester bond or lactone ring, or phenylene or naphthylene group, X A is an acid labile group, and Y A is hydrogen or a polar group having at least one structure selected from the group consisting of hydroxy, cyano, carbonyl, carboxyl, ether bond, ester bond, sulfonic acid ester bond, carbonate bond, lactone ring, sultone ring, and carboxylic acid anhydride, wherein the photoacid generator (C) has the formula or : M + X - wherein M + is a sulfonium cation of the formula or iodonium cation of the formula : R 400 -I + -R 500 wherein R 100 , R 200 and R 300 are each independently a straight, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 20 monovalent hydrocarbon group which may contain a heteroatom, any two or more of R 100 , R 200 and R 300 may bond together to form a ring with the sulfur atom to which they are attached, R 400 and R 500 are each independently a straight, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 20 monovalent hydrocarbon group which may contain a heteroatom, and X - is an anion selected from the formulae to : wherein R 77 is hydrogen or trifluoromethyl, R 88 is a straight, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 38 monovalent hydrocarbon group which may contain a heteroatom, R fb1 , R fb2 , R fc1 , R fc2 and R fc3 are each independently fluorine or a straight, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 40 monovalent hydrocarbon group which may contain a heteroatom, or a pair of R fb1 and R fb2 , or R fc1 and R fc2 may bond together to form a ring with the carbon atom to which they are attached and any intervening atoms, R fd is a straight, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 40 monovalent hydrocarbon group which may contain a heteroatom, wherein R 600 and R 700 are each independently a straight, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 20 monovalent hydrocarbon group which may contain a heteroatom, R 800 is a straight, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 20 divalent hydrocarbon group which may contain a heteroatom, any two or more of R 600 , R 700 and R 800 may bond together to form a ring with the sulfur atom to which they are attached, L is a single bond or linking group, X 1 and X 2 are each independently fluorine or trifluoromethyl, X 3 and X 4 are each independently hydrogen, fluorine or trifluoromethyl, and k is an integer of 0 to 3. wherein R 1 to R 4 are each independently hydrogen, hydroxyl, or a straight, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 20 monovalent hydrocarbon group which may contain a heteroatom, R 1 to R 4 may bond together to form a ring with the carbon atom to which they are attached and any intervening carbon atom, the resin (B) comprising recurring units having the formula and recurring units having the formula : <EOS>