marmoreal

American  

[mahr-mawr-ee-uhl] / mɑrˈmɔr i əl /

Also marmorean

adjective

1. of or like marble.

   skin of marmoreal smoothness.

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marmoreal British  

/ mɑːˈmɔːrɪəl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or resembling marble

   a marmoreal complexion

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Other Word Forms

• marmoreally
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of marmoreal

1790–1800; < Latin marmore ( us ) made of marble ( see marble, -eous) + -al ¹

Explanation

Anything marmoreal is smooth and white or otherwise characteristic of marble, like a pale face or a tombstone. Marmoreal is an old-fashioned, fancy word for "marble-like." It describes anything that resembles marble in appearance or quality. This could be a statue with a polished, smooth surface or an elegant building with marble-like columns. You can use the adjective to describe people as well — especially if they're a bit pale or rigid in appearance.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

marmoreal

Brands never lets his subject tarry long enough to freeze into marmoreal stillness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

Over the centuries, many art restorers and dealers felt obliged to vigorously scrub Greek and Roman objects, so as to enhance their marmoreal gleam—and their collectibility.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 22, 2018

She quotes Montaigne even more than Kalanithi does, but to her, he is not a marmoreal Great Writer, but a companion, the chatty, brilliant, worldly friend at her elbow.

From Slate ● Jul. 5, 2017

Late one evening in Washington, we walked by a thickset monolith that glowed with a cold marmoreal light, as if James Turrell had built a fortress for some paranoid ice king.

From New York Times ● Jul. 23, 2016

As when the God whom Pheidias moulds, Clothed in marmoreal calm divine, Veils all that strength ’neath beauty’s line, All energy in repose enfolds;— So He, in self-effacement great, Magnanimous to endure and wait.

From The Visions of England Lyrics on leading men and events in English History by Henry Morley