ornate

[awr-neyt]

adjective

1. elaborately or sumptuously adorned, often excessively or showily so.

   They bought an ornate Louis XIV sofa.

   Synonyms: lavish, rich, ostentatious, showy

2. embellished with rhetoric; florid or high-flown.

   an ornate style of writing.

ornate

/ ɔːˈneɪt /

adjective

1. heavily or elaborately decorated

2. (of style in writing) overembellished; flowery

Other Word Forms

• ornately adverb
• ornateness noun
• unornate adjective
• unornately adverb
• unornateness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of ornate¹

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin ornātus well-equipped, adorned, originally past participle of ornāre to equip; -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of ornate¹

C15: from Latin ornāre to decorate

Example Sentences

The no-frills approach has made it difficult to integrate some of her older work, particularly the ornate psych-folk tunes from “Solar Power.”

From Los Angeles Times

“Will There Ever Be Another You” is a mixed bag; readers must sift through “clods” of ornate prose to pluck nuggets of gold.

From Los Angeles Times

Renderings provided by the White House show that the ballroom will be similar architecturally to the rest of the White House, with a lavish interior including chandeliers and ornate columns.

From BBC

After the ornate sprawl of the novel, he revels in the shorter form, a palpable joy on the page.

From Los Angeles Times

Such is the rub you may find yourself in with iconoclastic Spanish director Albert Serra’s “Afternoons of Solitude,” his first nonfiction film, an unflinching gaze at bullfighting, its hushed, ornate rituals and gruesome realities.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• baroque 
• beautiful 
• elegant 
• embroidered www.thesaurus.com
• fancy 
• gaudy 
• gilded 
• glamorous 
• lavish 
• magnificent 
• opulent 
• rococo 
• sparkling 
• sumptuous