classical

[ klas-i-kuh l ]

/ ˈklæs ɪ kəl /

adjective

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.Compare order(def 27b).
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.Compare archaic(def 4), Hellenistic(def 5).

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.

classic(defs 1–5, 8, 10).

Ecclesiastical. pertaining to a classis.

noun

classical music: a jazz pianist who studied classical for years.

Nearby words

classbook, classes, classic, classic blues, classic car, classical, classical antiquity, classical armenian, classical chinese, classical college, classical conditioning

Origin of classical

First recorded in 1580–90; classic + -al¹

Related forms

clas·si·cal·i·ty, clas·si·cal·ness, nounclas·si·cal·ly, adverban·ti·clas·si·cal, adjectivean·ti·clas·si·cal·ly, adverb

an·ti·clas·si·cal·ness, nounhy·per·clas·si·cal, adjectivehy·per·clas·si·cal·i·ty, nounnon·clas·si·cal·i·ty, nounpre·clas·si·cal, adjectivepre·clas·si·cal·ly, adverbpro·clas·si·cal, adjectivequa·si-clas·si·cal·ly, adverb

Can be confusedclassic classical

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for classically

Much like the Taj Mahal, Revel opened in classically gaudy Atlantic City style in April 2012—with a sunrise Champagne toast.
I Watched a Casino Kill Itself: The Awful Last Nights of Atlantic City’s Taj Mahal|Olivia Nuzzi|December 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Classically, by turning on/off several genetic switches, scientists can revert cells to a less specialized stage.
Gene Editing Could Erase HIV|Dr. Anand Veeravagu, MD, Michael Zhang|June 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In order to build a Jewish nation and society, Zionists classically engaged in “negation of the Diaspora,” or shlilat hagolah.
Jonathan Pollard Means Israeli-American Squabbling Instead of Israeli-Palestinian Negotiation|Raphael Magarik|July 26, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Classically, three protagonists stand, pistols drawn, all with each other in the crosshairs at close range.
The Mexican Standoff in Egypt|Hussein Ibish|July 3, 2013|DAILY BEAST

It might cost you the Speakership, but presiding over a classically dysfunctional House with the rule might do the same thing.
Speaker Boehner, Ditch the Hastert Rule|Justin Green|January 16, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It was therefore absolutely necessary that a woman should be uneducated or classically educated.
The Book Lovers' Anthology|Various
Next, she carefully hid away a key that had fallen to the floor and lay near the classically folded sheet.
Madeline Payne, the Detective's Daughter|Lawrence L. Lynch
She was pretty, not classically beautiful, but very charming and attractive-looking.
The Pit Prop Syndicate|Freeman Wills Crofts
The artist did not appear distressed,—indeed, he looked too classically self-reliant to require encouragement.
Charles Auchester, Volume 1 of 2|Elizabeth Sheppard
The verse portions, which are on the whole correct and classically constructed, are in imitation of Varro and are less tiresome.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 3|Various

British Dictionary definitions for classically

classical

/ (ˈklæsɪkəl) /

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 Romeclassical architecture

music

of, relating to, or denoting any music or its period of composition marked by stability of form, intellectualism, and restraintCompare romantic (def. 5)
accepted as a standardthe classical suite
denoting serious art music in generalCompare pop 1 (def. 2)

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 conservatisma classical style of painting See classicism (def. 1)

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 relativityclassical mechanics
obeying the laws of Newtonian mechanics or 19th-century physicsa classical gas

another word for classic (def. 2), classic (def. 4)

(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

Derived Formsclassicality or classicalness, nounclassically, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for classically

classical

adj.

1590s, "of the highest rank" (originally in literature), from classic + -al (1). Classical music (1836) was defined originally against romantic music.

[I]n general, as now used, the term classical includes the composers active in instrumental music from somewhere about 1700 to say 1830. Hence the list includes among the great names those of Bach, his sons, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Clementi, Dussek, Pleyel, Cramer, etc. The next step beyond the term classical is "modern romantic," the composers of which school may be taken to include all the writers for pianoforte from about 1829 (when Mendelssohn published the first "Songs without Words") down to the present. The term romantic in this sense means strongly marked, extraordinary, intending to tell stories and the like. ["Music, Its Ideals and Methods," W.S.B. Mathews, 1897]

But already by 1880s it was acknowledged the term had a double sense: Music that had withstood the test of time, as well as music of a style contrasted to "romantic." Later (early 20c.) it was contrasted to jazz (in this sense more often with reference to the orchestras than to the music itself). Still later in contrast to popular music generally (mid-20c.).

classical

adjective

noun

RELATED CONTENT

Nearby words

Origin of classical

Examples from the Web for classically

British Dictionary definitions for classically

classical

adjective

Word Origin and History for classically

classical