ornate
Americanadjective
-
elaborately or sumptuously adorned, often excessively or showily so.
They bought an ornate Louis XIV sofa.
- Synonyms:
- lavish, rich, ostentatious, showy
-
embellished with rhetoric; florid or high-flown.
an ornate style of writing.
adjective
-
heavily or elaborately decorated
-
(of style in writing) overembellished; flowery
Other Word Forms
- ornately adverb
- ornateness noun
- unornate adjective
- unornately adverb
- unornateness noun
Etymology
Origin of ornate
1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin ornātus well-equipped, adorned, originally past participle of ornāre to equip; -ate 1
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.
Conservator Clare Emerson is painstakingly removing the dirt of the dig from an ornate copper brooch.
From BBC
From her “controlled chaos” come intricate, ornate, one-of-a-kind necklaces, earrings, brooches and rings.
From Los Angeles Times
Nobles and elites would build ornate bamboo cages for their birds to display their elegance and wealth.
From BBC
At least two show Clinton in an ornate swimming pool, including alongside Maxwell.
Hicks will now leave his position as bishop of Joliet for the ornate sanctuary at St Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan, where he will lead 2.5 million Catholics in the nation's largest city.
From BBC
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.
