Moorish
adjective
of or relating to the Moors, a Muslim people of NW Africa.
Moorish
American
[moor-ish]
/ ˈmʊər ɪʃ /
adjective
-
of or relating to the Moors, a Muslim people of NW Africa.
-
in the style of the Moors, as architecture or decoration.
moorish
British
/ ˈmʊərɪʃ, ˈmɔː- /
adjective
-
of or relating to the Moors
-
denoting the style of architecture used in Spain from the 13th to 16th century, characterized by the horseshoe arch
Etymology
Origin of Moorish
First recorded in 1400–50, Moorish is from the late Middle English word morys. See Moor, -ish 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The home, she said, is more than 200 years old and built by her Spanish forefathers, with a tiled courtyard in the center and Moorish accents on the masonry.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026
She was raised by her mother, the singer Lisa Moorish.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2025
The tool reached Europe through the Moorish conquest of much of Spain.
From New York Times ● Mar. 12, 2024
Drought-stricken farmers in Spain have reclaimed medieval Moorish irrigation technology.
From Salon ● Feb. 26, 2024
Below this Crusade for Moorish Digniti/ was written in an intricate blue script.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
The moorish, sort of gothic feeling that you get when you go there—I think that’s part of it.
From Slate ● May 18, 2016
On the moorish sabbath, which was also their market-day, the Christian slaves were not required to labour, unless on extraordinary occasions, when there was any particular work to do, which could not be delayed.
From Lander's Travels The Travels of Richard Lander into the Interior of Africa by Robert Huish
They resemble boggy and moorish ground, we must run lightly over them, without ever letting our feet make the least impression.”
From Ebrietatis Encomium or, the Praise of Drunkenness by Robert Samber
It is moorish, and wild, and knotty as a root of heath.
From Biographical Notes on the Pseudonymous Bells by Charlotte Brontë
Another moorish merchant afterwards informed Mr. M'Donogh, British consul at Tripoli, that Yussuph was in safety at Kashna, in June 1803, and was there highly respected as a mussulman, marabout or saint.
From Lander's Travels The Travels of Richard Lander into the Interior of Africa by Robert Huish
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
