noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A 19th-century art movement by a group of English artists who sought to reform art by rejecting the academic and idealized style of the Royal Academy, which they felt was influenced too heavily by the artist Raphael; favoring the detailed, realistic, and often medieval or literary-inspired style of art that came "before Raphael". uncountable
2. 2
   a countercultural movement that aimed to reform Victorian art and writing. wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

archaism

Etymology

From pre- + Raphael + -ite + -ism.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.