Elizabethan
Americanadjective
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of or relating to the reign of Elizabeth I, queen of England, or to her times.
Elizabethan diplomacy; Elizabethan music.
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noting or pertaining to an English Renaissance style of architecture of the reign of Elizabeth I characterized by fantastic sculptured or molded ornament of German or Flemish origin, symmetrical layouts, and an emphasis on domestic architecture.
noun
adjective
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of, characteristic of, or relating to England or its culture in the age of Elizabeth I or to the United Kingdom or its culture in the age of Elizabeth II
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of, relating to, or designating a style of architecture used in England during the reign of Elizabeth I, characterized by moulded and sculptured ornament based on German and Flemish models
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of Elizabethan
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.
Today many of us are as likely to be disorientated by his fondness for folklore and myth, his assumptions about religion and social order, and his immersion in the conventions of Elizabethan and Jacobean theater.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026
Izzard, who has a background as a street performer, feels a kinship with Elizabethan players, who like stand-up comics, maintained a lively rapport with their audience.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2026
Burghley House, an Elizabethan mansion near Peterborough, lies on the border between Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire.
From BBC • Dec. 5, 2025
As Elizabethan folk songs replaced Aldous' voice, Francis took a chrysanthemum and held it to Matthew's nose before scattering its petals across the sheepskin rug.
From Salon • Apr. 19, 2025
It puffed out its Elizabethan ruff of colorful neck webbing in warning, and with a terrifying hiss-screech, it lunged.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
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.
