Pharaonic

[ fair-ey-on-ik, far- ]

/ ˌfɛər eɪˈɒn ɪk, ˌfær- /

Save This Word!

(sometimes lowercase) of or like a Pharaoh: living in Pharaonic splendor.

(usually lowercase) impressively or overwhelmingly large, luxurious, etc.: a construction project of pharaonic proportions.

(lowercase) cruelly oppressive; tyrannical: pharaonic tax laws.

QUIZZES

Are you aware how often people swap around “their,” “there,” and “they’re”? Prove you have more than a fair grasp over these commonly confused words.

Question 1 of 7

Which one of these commonly confused words can act as an adverb or a pronoun?

1850–55; <Greek Pharaōn- (stem of Pharaṓ Pharaoh) + -ic

pre-Phar·a·on·ic, adjective

Pharaonic scenes, Muslim symbols, poetry, and Coptic icons—great vivid murals bloomed onto the walls.
Ahdaf Soueif’s Cairo: Remembering A City Wracked By The Arab Spring|Ahdaf Soueif|January 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Twice or three times as high as the admirable Pharaonic Temple, its impudent facade rises there, painted a dirty yellow.
Egypt (La Mort De Philae)|Pierre Loti
We have searched in vain for such a form among the plans of those pharaonic 351temples which have been measured.
A history of art in ancient Egypt, Vol. I (of 2)|Georges Perrot
Perhaps from one of the numerous pavilions which went to make up a pharaonic palace.
A History of Art in Ancient Egypt, Vol. II (of 2)|Georges Perrot

The Pharaonic temples were laid upon the surface rather than solidly rooted in the soil.
A History of Art in Ancient Egypt, Vol. II (of 2)|Georges Perrot
We have now to describe an arrangement which, though rare in the Pharaonic period, was afterwards common enough.
A History of Art in Ancient Egypt, Vol. II (of 2)|Georges Perrot