filigree
Americannoun
-
delicate ornamental work of fine silver, gold, or other metal wires, especially lacy jewelers' work of scrolls and arabesques.
-
anything very delicate or fanciful.
a filigree of frost.
adjective
verb (used with object)
-
filigrees,
present (3rd person singular)
-
filigreed,
past participle, past
-
filigreeing
present participle
noun
-
delicate ornamental work of twisted gold, silver, or other wire
-
any fanciful delicate ornamentation
adjective
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
filigreesimple
-
filigreessimple
-
have filigreedperfect
-
has filigreedperfect
-
am filigreeingprogressive
-
are filigreeingprogressive
-
is filigreeingprogressive
-
have been filigreeingperfect progressive
-
has been filigreeingperfect progressive
Past
-
filigreedsimple
-
had filigreedperfect
-
was filigreeingprogressive
-
were filigreeingprogressive
-
had been filigreeingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of filigree
First recorded in 1685–95; earlier filigreen, variant of filigrain
Explanation
Ancient handmade jewelry is often known for its filigree, which is a noun describing delicate ornamental work made of some type of metal. Filigree comes from the Latin word for thread. Usually the strands of silver, gold, or wire used for this type of ornamentation is so fine, it appears almost like thin threads wound together. It wouldn’t be a bad find to stumble on a chest full of gold filigree-framed items in your grandmother’s attic, especially if she wanted you to keep them! The word can also be used as a verb to describe the act of making filigree.
Vocabulary lists containing filigree
Beowulf
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!
This Week In Words: April 26–May 2, 2020
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!
The Night Circus
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.
See Examples For:
The filigree work and interlinking creatures on Eastern European drinking bowls are even more stunning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
The first weeks of his second term, he put another piece of gold filigree above the door, and then it was between the paintings.
From Slate ● May 7, 2026
Your eye is drawn to the dazzling, filigree lace around the neck of the young woman.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2023
If, as the New York Times’ Amanda Hess argues, we live in the “golden age of celebrity branding,” liquor is the filigree on its balustrades, the inlay on its armoires, the leaf on its chandeliers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2023
A pale green curtain of branches just brushed the grasses and threw a filigree of shadows, as delicate as the wrought silver, on the child’s face.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
It’s a wildly playful album, full of risky production and arrangements — skittering aquatic beats, odd filigrees, punchy power harmonies.
From New York Times ● Jul. 25, 2022
Erhard Rom’s sets, too, strike a fine balance between caricatured opulence and comic minimalism — he projects elegant filigrees to fill parlor walls, streaks of marble to conjure a garden.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 13, 2022
Her impassioned filigrees invited empathic responses from the choir, and found stalwart support from the event’s MC, the Rev James Cleveland.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 8, 2019
The piano plays filigrees, occupying another musical realm.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2017
Lichens splotch the stone; leached minerals have left filigrees of stains.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
An obvious model for the film is “Babe,” but minus the droll wit, the inspired lunacy and the filigreed plot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
It would be better to view this fine film as deceptively small, revealing its own distinctively filigreed array of the gentle and good in all that meaningful silence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2022
After flowering, the plants set an equally abundant crop of ballooning seedpods topped with a filigreed crown.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 12, 2022
Instead it feels theoretical, a filigreed representation of the classic trolley problem.
From New York Times ● May 6, 2022
Hundreds of people sat in red velvet seats and in gold filigreed balconies.
From "The Marvels" by Brian Selznick
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.
