classical
Americanadjective
-
of, relating to, or characteristic of Greek and Roman antiquity.
classical literature;
classical languages.
-
conforming to ancient Greek and Roman models in literature or art, or to later systems modeled upon them.
-
marked by classicism.
classical simplicity.
-
Music.
-
of, relating to, or constituting the formally and artistically more sophisticated and enduring types of music, as distinguished from popular and folk music and jazz. Classical music includes symphonies, operas, sonatas, song cycles, and lieder.
-
of, pertaining to, characterized by, or adhering to the well-ordered, chiefly homophonic musical style of the latter half of the 18th and the early 19th centuries.
Haydn and Mozart are classical composers.
-
-
Architecture.
-
noting or pertaining to the architecture of ancient Greece and Rome, especially the religious and public architecture, characterized by the employment of orders.
-
noting or pertaining to any of several styles of architecture closely imitating the architecture of ancient Greece or Rome; neoclassic.
-
noting or pertaining to architectural details or motifs adapted from ancient Greek or Roman models.
-
(of an architectural design) simple, reposeful, well-proportioned, or symmetrical in a manner suggesting the architecture of ancient Greece and Rome.
-
-
(often initial capital letter) pertaining to or designating the style of fine arts, especially painting and sculpture, developed in Greece during the 5th and 4th centuries b.c., chiefly characterized by balanced composition, the separation of figures from an architectural background, and the naturalistic rendering of anatomical details, spatial movement, and distribution of weight in a figure.
-
of or relating to a style of literature and art characterized by conformity to established treatments, taste, or critical standards, and by attention to form with the general effect of regularity, simplicity, balance, proportion, and controlled emotion (contrasted with romantic).
-
pertaining to or versed in the ancient classics.
a classical scholar.
-
relating to or teaching academic branches of knowledge, as the humanities, general sciences, etc., as distinguished from technical subjects.
-
(of a given field of knowledge) accepted as standard and authoritative, as distinguished from novel or experimental.
classical physics.
-
Ecclesiastical. pertaining to a classis.
noun
adjective
-
of, relating to, or characteristic of the ancient Greeks and Romans or their civilization, esp in the period of their ascendancy
-
designating, following, or influenced by the art or culture of ancient Greece or Rome
classical architecture
-
music
-
music of or relating to a style of music composed, esp at Vienna, during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This period is marked by the establishment, esp by Haydn and Mozart, of sonata form
-
denoting or relating to a style in any of the arts characterized by emotional restraint and conservatism See classicism
a classical style of painting
-
well versed in the art and literature of ancient Greece and Rome
-
(of an education) based on the humanities and the study of Latin and Greek
-
physics
-
not involving the quantum theory or the theory of relativity
classical mechanics
-
obeying the laws of Newtonian mechanics or 19th-century physics
a classical gas
-
-
(of a logical or mathematical system) according with the law of excluded middle, so that every statement is known to be either true or false even if it is not known which
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of classical
Explanation
Has the building got columns in front of it? Check. Has the music got lots of strings and horns? Check. Chances are both are classical — representative of a past culture. Often classical describes anything from ancient Greek or Roman culture, because, boy, those guys were good. Be careful when using classical and classic; they're not exactly the same. While something classical is usually a classic, it doesn't necessarily work the other way around. A classic is something exceptional that we tend to judge in a different time frame. A classic rock album? Definitely not made by the ancient Greeks or Romans. So far as we know.
Vocabulary lists containing classical
TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Ancient Greece - Introductory
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Analyzing Arguments: From Reading to Writing (Chapter 3)
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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 term quantum advantage refers to quantum’s doing something “cheaper, faster, or more accurately” than classical computers, by Gambetta’s definition.
From MarketWatch • May 22, 2026
Buried under the capital’s broad avenues, however, are a series of public spaces eschewing classical ornament yet achieving something rarer—a monumental and timeless civic dignity.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
Phil to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, where he led a varied set of classical favorites and appearances with pop stars, for 150,000 people shouting “L.A. Phil! L.A Phil.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
The wider public discovered Monroe, sporting long braided hair, in a TV talent show dedicated to young classical music virtuosos.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
There is another set of names that is commonly used, particularly in classical music, to talk about harmonic relationships.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
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.
