arabesque
Americannoun
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Fine Arts. a sinuous, spiraling, undulating, or serpentine line or linear motif.
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a pose in ballet in which the dancer stands on one leg with one arm extended in front and the other leg and arm extended behind.
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a short, fanciful musical piece, typically for piano.
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any ornament or ornamental object, as a rug or mosaic, in which flowers, foliage, fruits, vases, animals, and figures are represented in a fancifully combined pattern.
adjective
noun
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ballet a classical position in which the dancer has one leg raised behind and both arms stretched out in one of several conventional poses
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music a piece or movement with a highly ornamented or decorated melody
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arts
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a type of curvilinear decoration in painting, metalwork, etc, with intricate intertwining leaf, flower, animal, or geometrical designs
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a design of flowing lines
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adjective
Other Word Forms
- arabesquely adverb
Etymology
Origin of arabesque
1605–15; < French < Italian arabesco ornament in Islamic style, literally, Arabian, equivalent to Arab ( o ) Arab ( def. ) + -esco -esque
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.
The walls of the master bed chamber, for example—previously cream-colored—are now decked in an orange arabesque wallpaper with swags, birds and bouquets on a light-blue background.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 7, 2026
The setups were delightful and there was also the style, with all its arabesque flourishes and attention to ornate detail.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026
Ruble perfected her movements in sync with the music and the other dancers, her head tilted at just the right angle, her arabesque hitting the correct line, her discipline and note-taking clearly paying off.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 25, 2024
And in its devastatingly lovely ending, Postlewaite extends a hand to Generosa, who rises to a perfect, reaching arabesque — a movement that eloquently spoke of hope.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 6, 2023
But they really did not notice me, and when the teacher floated across the floor and finished in an arabesque my fancy was taken.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
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.
