marmoreal
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Brands never lets his subject tarry long enough to freeze into marmoreal stillness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
The marmoreal perfections of its verse seemed to reflect the grand façades of the Roman state itself: Augustus boasted that he found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 8, 2018
A few lesser-known names, including the intriguing Israeli painter Yigal Ozeri, hang cheek-by-jowl with marmoreal interiors and ghastly cityscapes.
From New York Times ● Sep. 7, 2017
Consider St. John in his chilled marmoreal loveliness—“It is seldom, indeed, an English face comes so near the antique models.”
From Slate ● Apr. 5, 2016
Attired in ducal robes, they lie in state; and the sculptor has carved the lashes on their eyelids, heavy with death's marmoreal sleep.
From Sketches and Studies in Italy and Greece, First Series by Horatio Robert Forbes Brown
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.
