baroque

American  

[buh-rohk, ba-rawk] / bəˈroʊk, baˈrɔk /

adjective

1. (often initial capital letter) of or relating to a style of architecture and art originating in Italy in the early 17th century and variously prevalent in Europe and the New World for a century and a half, characterized by free and sculptural use of the classical orders and ornament, by forms in elevation and plan suggesting movement, and by dramatic effect in which architecture, painting, sculpture, and the decorative arts often worked to combined effect.

2. (sometimes initial capital letter) of or relating to the musical period following the Renaissance, extending roughly from 1600 to 1750.

3. extravagantly ornate, florid, and convoluted in character or style.

   the baroque prose of the novel's more lurid passages.

4. irregular in shape.

   baroque pearls.

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noun

1. (often initial capital letter) the baroque style or period.

2. anything extravagantly ornamented, especially something so ornate as to be in bad taste.

3. an irregularly shaped pearl.

baroque British  

/ bəˈrəʊk, bəˈrɒk /

noun

1. a style of architecture and decorative art that flourished throughout Europe from the late 16th to the early 18th century, characterized by extensive ornamentation

2. a 17th-century style of music characterized by extensive use of the thorough bass and of ornamentation

3. any ornate or heavily ornamented style

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adjective

1. denoting, being in, or relating to the baroque

2. (of pearls) irregularly shaped

baroque Cultural  

1. A period in the arts, visual and musical, from about 1600 to about 1750, marked by elaborate ornamentation and efforts to create dramatic effects. Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frederick Handel, and Antonio Vivaldi were great composers of the baroque era.

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Etymology

Origin of baroque

1755–65; < French < Portuguese barroco, barroca irregularly shaped pearl (of obscure origin; compare Spanish berrueco, barrueco granitic crag, irregular pearl, spherical nodule), probably conflated with Medieval Latin baroco invented word for a kind of obfuscating syllogism

Example Sentences

As the Cosmic Weatherman, John Mburu ably demonstrated how smoothly baroque arias for bass—regardless of their original subjects—can be repurposed as howls of despair about a modern apocalypse.

From The Wall Street Journal

Mr. Venables’s music, built on baroque and folk styles and instruments, enriches and illuminates the text.

From The Wall Street Journal

Its curving, ever-changing titanium facade — with offset panels catching the light and wowing millions of visitors — became a symbol of a new era of baroque, digitally-driven architecture.

From Los Angeles Times

The morning after his dinner with Wing Chau, Eisman woke up to his first glimpse of the bond market in the flesh, and a lot of sensationally phony baroque ceiling frescoes.

From Literature

Lately, however, there are signs that the story has entered its baroque phase, as firms have to reach further and further to meet heightened expectations, and some new efforts begin to feel overwrought.

From Barron's

Related Words

• florid
• ornate
• rococo