chinoiserie
Americannoun
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a style of ornamentation current chiefly in the 18th century in Europe, characterized by intricate patterns and an extensive use of motifs identified as Chinese.
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an object decorated in this style or an example of this style.
The clock was an interesting chinoiserie.
noun
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a style of decorative or fine art based on imitations of Chinese motifs
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an object or objects in this style
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of chinoiserie
1880–85; < French, equivalent to chinois Chinese + -erie -ery
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 Etsy store Sea and Stable has turned oyster shells into blue decoupage chinoiserie jewelry holders and trinket bowls.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 18, 2022
Duncan also likes to use Brunschwig & Fils’s Xian chinoiserie as an accent pattern on window shades or an armchair, and she suggests pairing it with a geometric design.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 11, 2021
Inside, it was decorated in decadent chinoiserie, with a thirty-foot glass chandelier clutched in the claws of a silvered dragon suspended above the dining table.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 10, 2020
It was refurbished by the British interior designer Anouska Hempel with plush chinoiserie furnishings and décor that gives a big nod to the neighborhood’s distant past.
From New York Times ● Feb. 9, 2019
Versed in the weird grivoiserie Affected by Verlaine, And charmed by the chinoiserie Of Marinetti's strain, In all its multiplicity He worshipped eccentricity, And found his chief felicity In aping the insane.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 150, June 7, 1916 by Seaman, Owen, Sir
Acton talked a great deal about his chinoiseries; he knew a good deal about porcelain and bric-a-brac.
From The Europeans by James, Henry
His designs were many of them made by Johann Zick of Coblenz, others by Jean Baptiste Le Prince, chinoiseries, and shepherd games.
From Intarsia and Marquetry by Jackson, F. Hamilton (Frederick Hamilton)
“There are treasures behind these locked doors, brocades, old jewels, unframed pictures, bronzes, chinoiseries, Japoneries.”
From The Arrow of Gold A Story Between Two Notes by Conrad, Joseph
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.
