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Pre-Raphaelite

American  
[pree-raf-ee-uh-lahyt, -rey-fee-] / priˈræf i əˌlaɪt, -ˈreɪ fi- /

noun

  1. any of a group of English artists Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood formed in 1848, and including Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who aimed to revive the style and spirit of the Italian artists before the time of Raphael.


adjective

  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the Pre-Raphaelites.

Pre-Raphaelite British  
/ ˌpriːˈræfəlaɪt /

noun

  1. a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, an association of British painters and writers including Rossetti, Holman Hunt, and Millais, founded in 1848 to combat the shallow conventionalism of academic painting and revive the fidelity to nature and the vivid realistic colour that they considered typical of Italian painting before Raphael

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. of, in the manner of, or relating to Pre-Raphaelite painting and painters

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of Pre-Raphaelite

First recorded in 1840–50; pre- + Raphael + -ite 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.

See Examples For:

I suppose the thing that I indulge myself most in is a really good Pre-Raphaelite painting or really good artwork.

From MarketWatch Oct. 10, 2025

The building, home to the largest public Pre-Raphaelite collection in the world, closed in 2020 for building work, but partially reopened in 2022 for the Commonwealth Games.

From BBC Sep. 19, 2023

And those who love pretty period movies will drink up — like Alice — the elaborate frocks, the delicate china, the William Morris wallpaper, the abundant Pre-Raphaelite hair.

From Seattle Times Nov. 12, 2020

Macneal deftly paints her fictional heroine into the colorful lives of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, those radical reformers, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who strove to reinvigorate the arts.

From Washington Post Aug. 5, 2019

Now he saw that the girl was almost a young woman, poised and imperious, quite the little Pre-Raphaelite princess with her bangles and tresses, her painted nails and velvet choker.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

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