Victorian

[vik-tawr-ee-uhn, -tohr-]

adjective

1. of or relating to Queen Victoria or the period of her reign.

   Victorian poets.

2. having the characteristics usually attributed to the Victorians, especially prudishness and observance of the conventionalities.

   Synonyms: narrow, prim, smug, priggish, conventional, prudish

3. Architecture.

   1. noting or pertaining to the architecture, furnishings, and decoration of English-speaking countries between c1840 and c1900, characterized by rapid changes of style as a consequence of aesthetic and philosophical controversy, technological innovations, and changes of fashion, by the frequent presence of ostentatious ornament, and by an overall trend from classicism at the start to romanticism and eclecticism at the middle of the period and thence to classicism again, with attempts at stylistic innovation occurring from time to time.

   2. noting or pertaining to the massive, elaborate work characteristic especially of the period c1855–80, derived mainly from the Baroque and Gothic styles and characterized by the presence of heavy carved ornament, elaborate moldings, etc., by the use of strong and generally dark colors, by the frequent use of dark varnished woodwork, by the emphasis on geometrical form rather than on textural effects, and frequently by an effect of harshness.

noun

1. a person who lived during the Victorian period.

2. a house in or imitative of the Victorian style.

Victorian

/ vɪkˈtɔːrɪən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Queen Victoria or the period of her reign

2. exhibiting the characteristics popularly attributed to the Victorians, esp prudery, bigotry, or hypocrisy Compare Victorian values

3. denoting, relating to, or having the style of architecture used in Britain during the reign of Queen Victoria, characterized by massive construction and elaborate ornamentation

4. of or relating to Victoria (the state or any of the cities)

noun

1. a person who lived during the reign of Queen Victoria

2. an inhabitant of Victoria (the state or any of the cities)

Victorian

1. A descriptive term for the time when Victoria was queen of England, from 1837 to 1901. The Victorian period in England is known as a time of industrial progress, colonial expansion, and public fastidiousness in morals. The Victorian period in the United States had many of the same characteristics.

Other Word Forms

• post-Victorian adjective
• pre-Victorian adjective
• pseudo-Victorian adjective
• un-Victorian adjective
• Victorianism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Victorian¹

First recorded in 1870–75; Victori(a) + -an

Example Sentences

Operating from a Victorian mansion just steps from Hyde Park, the company has recently seen a surge of wealthy customers hoping to stuff gold into the hundreds of safe-deposit boxes in its subterranean, steel-encased vault.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Garfield is all galling charisma and Edebiri is in some pallid register, like a Victorian ghost that you’re not sure whether to fear.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

His surrealist reimagining of Lewis Carroll’s Victorian children’s novel, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” distorts the nonsense and whimsy: melting clocks and anxious White Rabbits, sinister playing cards and caterpillars on mushrooms.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Consider every masterpiece play not written by Oscar Wilde in Victorian England, an era when more theatres were being constructed in London than anywhere before in human history.

Read more on Salon

SB 79 allows the state to upzone historic districts, paving the way for the demolition of well-preserved Victorian houses, Arts and Crafts bungalows and Spanish Colonial Revival homes.

Read more on Los Angeles Times