Victorian

American  

[vik-tawr-ee-uhn, -tohr-] / vɪkˈtɔr i ən, -ˈtoʊr- /

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.

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noun

• Victorians
  plural

1. a person who lived during the Victorian period.

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

Victorian British  

/ 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)

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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 Cultural  

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.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Victorians
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Victorian

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

Explanation

Someone who's victorian is particularly prudish or prissy. Your victorian math teacher might demand complete silence and expect to be addressed as "Sir." When you describe someone as victorian, you mean that the person has an old fashioned, uptight idea of how others should speak and behave. You'll often see the adjective spelled with a capital V, since it comes from the other meaning of the word, "from the time period during the reign of Britain's Queen Victoria." Ever since the mid-1930's, people have described overly proper acquaintances as victorian, meaning that they seem like they're living in the nineteenth century.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Victorian Victorians

The visual impact of any new masts has been raised as a concern, as Llandudno's Victorian seafront is a conservation area.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

Today the street’s well-preserved Western and Victorian buildings from the 19th and 20th centuries blend with contemporary storefronts occupied by booksellers, coffee shops, restaurants and galleries, many locally owned.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

The author of “Queens and Kings” on books that unveil the lives of English royalty, from Tudor splendor to Victorian household intrigues.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

The GunaiKurnai, an Australian Aboriginal nation, are recognized as the traditional custodians of Gippsland and the southern Victorian Alps.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

Clever modernizations of old Colonial manses, extensions in Victorian wood, capacious Greek Revival temples lined the street, as impressive and just as forbid ding as ever.

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles

Like many educated Victorians, Stanley was dazzled as a child by travelogues and the Arabian Nights tales.

From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2026

"It was 2009 ahead of the bushfires where we saw those prevailing conditions and so we are indicating to all Victorians that this is a very serious set of weather conditions."

From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2026

Heffernan urged all Victorians to be on high alert, not just those near active fires.

From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2026

The Victorians sparked the modern obsession with engineering “lots of different looking dogs to fit different human wants,” said Dr. Rowena Packer, senior lecturer at the University of London’s Royal Veterinary College.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025

Victor walks into the building—undisclosed location, of course—with Andrea Donahue, a coworker who doesn’t stop to admire the portraits of smiling Victorians and past presidents on the yellow walls.

From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera