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
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This Week In Words: April 26–May 2, 2020
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The Night Circus
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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:
In the coming weeks, permanent plaza fences will be erected here — curvy stainless-steel structures that MAD Architects principal Dixon Junliang Lu compared to the lacy filigree of Art Nouveau architecture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 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
Its wheels’ gold rims, capped with smiley faces, are emblazoned with the platitude “Where Dreams Are Made,” while the whole thing is ornamented with piped-icing filigree.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
Your eye is drawn to the dazzling, filigree lace around the neck of the young woman.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2023
There’s a rest area, gently lit in pinkish tones, with several easy chairs and a sofa, in a lime-green bamboo-shoot print, with a wall clock above it in a gold filigree frame.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
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
The delicate items include Lucrezia Beerli-Bieler’s intricately cut filigrees, Kate Norris’s collages of wallpaper motifs and Ashley Chiang’s quilled mandala.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 14, 2020
Country filigrees are sometimes heard, but the music is mostly pop, with touches of soul and a bit of tango, plus a whole lot of disco.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2019
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
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
Its silty rivers rush down from the Himalayas, spill into a filigreed maze of ponds, wetlands and tributaries before emptying into the blustery, black Bay of Bengal.
From New York Times ● Jun. 25, 2023
His filigreed handiwork decorates hundreds of lowriders across Southern California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 2023
After flowering, the plants set an equally abundant crop of ballooning seedpods topped with a filigreed crown.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 12, 2022
In the pine-patched moonlight, the Queen Anne’s goblets looked for all the world like filigreed silver.
From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
